Chronicles of A Noble Soldier
by Sentai-Rider Fan
Summary: When Louise fails the summoning ritual she hatches a plan to escape from her shackles as a noble, however she never expected that her adventure would bring her into a world of war and destruction. Now a soldier this is her story, a chronicle of her life as a soldier for the Belfast kingdom and eventually becoming a heroine and the person she always wanted to be. Rated T to be safe
1. Prologue

**Hi everyone, this is my new story and the first story in the Familiar of Zero fandom, it's inspired by Valkyria Chronicles so expect a bit of similar elements in it. It's a little different the ones on here so I hope you guys enjoy it all, this is the prologue and expect the 1st chapter very soon. Please enjoy and reviews are always appreciated. **

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Louise stared at the bag that contained all of her clothes as she sat on the bed, a lamp lit and illuminating the otherwise dark room lightly, her mind still could not comprehend what just happened. She had failed. She had failed to become a mage, she had sincerely wished that she would have been able to become a mage by summoning a familiar. Three times she had tried to summon a familiar, and three times it had resulted in nothing more then explosions until finally Professor Colbert had to stop her. Now her career as a mage was pretty much over, there hasn't been any mage in history that had not successfully summoned a familiar. No doubt her mother would be fuming with anger once she arrived back at her manor, her mother was a proud former mage and she would expect nothing less from her daughters; after all Louise's older sisters were successful mages in their own rights.

There would be little doubt right now that she would be married off to her fiancé Wardes now that she was no longer a mage, Louise had managed to dodge that particular issue by continuing to state that as long as she was a mage then she would be marrying Wardes. Now she had little choice as she cursed and threw a pillow to the wall, "Why am I the one that get stuck with this kind of thing? What the hell did I do wrong in my past life to deserve this?" she screamed not caring that other people might be hearing her, she couldn't give a damn about them at all.

Although she was a noble and she knew what was expected of her she was still a girl at heart and she didn't want to be stuck in some dingy old home being a housewife. For crying out loud she was sixteen! She had her whole life ahead of her as she huffed before an idea came to her mind, who said that she needed to go home? She could run away now! Better to live off the life of a wanderer with no place to go and potentially starving to death then being stuck being a housewife the ridicule of all mages. She could escape easily, the gate was always opened to allow late-night visitors in, and nobody would see that she was missing well until the carriage that is to take her home arrived. She would be long gone by then and she would be nothing more then a single person in a country of thousands.

But could she really do this? Could she really trade the luxurious life of a noble for a wanderer? She gulped as she tried to re-evaluate her situation, on the one hand she would be starving all the time and most likely she would be doing things she never imagined herself doing, not to mention talking to people who probably had no manners at all. And on the other hand she would be having the easy life and Wardes would treat her kindly, plus she would still be in good standing with all the other nobles as they wouldn't dare to insult her while she was Wardes' wife…but then she would be nothing more then glorified prisoner. Freedom was always much better then imprisonment no matter how sugar-coated it was.

With her mind made up she grabbed her bag and made sure that she was as quiet as possible, by now everyone would be asleep, but her little shout just then probably woke some up. However it seemed luck was on her side tonight as she was able to get to the main gate without any problems, she then turned and took one last look at the academy. She had always thought that the academy would be the place where she would feel at home, a place where she would finally be able to learn something meaningful how wrong had she been, as she gave a soft smile, "Well…until we meet again then," she said before quickly walking away from the academy and walking down the road. Strangely enough she felt free, she actually felt like she was doing something worthwhile, perhaps it was the thought that she was free to do whatever she wanted without anyone else telling her what to do. An actual smile was now on her face as she had a plan in mind to get to the next town and find some work, she would have to mentally prepare herself for whatever work it might be as she hardly think that she would be used to the kind of work commoners did on a daily basis. "Wonder if mother will look for me? Probably will if only not to lose face in front of Wardes," Louise asked herself as the night seemed to ease her transition from noble to wanderer as the air was cool and the night wasn't as scary as she thought it would be.

But fate was a fickle thing, in essence this story could easily be about Louise's journey in Halkeginia and the adventures she has and the people she met along the way with a final climatic battle that will test her resolve. However…that is not what this story is about or even remotely about a cliché fantasy story as Louise then put a foot forward just as a green portal appeared beneath her, she barely had even time to register what happened before she was pulled into the portal and into a world that was as dangerous, if not more, then Halkeginia. And so the chronicles of Louise Valliere shall begin in the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 1: A New World

**I decided to put up the 1st chapter today since the prologue is a short one, I should apologise in advance if Louise seems a little out of character, I'm trying to nail down her character now and develop it further on as the story progresses. I would very much appreciate any feedback given to me and advice on how to improve my stories. I aim to have the 2nd chapter up by next week, however as I am in university my posting period might be erratic and I apologise for that. However please enjoy the first chapter. **

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Falling through the air was not a fun thing, not even remotely fun, the only thing that one would be experiencing would be fear that they would be smashing into the ground and becoming nothing more then a bloody mess. Which was exactly what Louise was feeling at this moment in time as she fell through the portal as she screamed before finding herself landing on the ground hard as she moaned, "Oh…what happened?" she asked herself as she looked around. She seemed to be in some sort of forested area as she thought that she was in the forest area around the academy, but then she couldn't see the academy anywhere and all in front of her were farmlands as she gaped. Furthermore it was already late afternoon where she landed instead of night when she left the academy. Where in the Brimir's name did the portal teleport her to?

"Uhm…are you alright," a voice asked as Louise turned to see a young man of around two years her senior with a thin face and body along with black hair and piercing blue eyes that reminded Louise of the sky. "You…just fell out of the sky," he stated as Louise sighed, _well thank you for being so obvious_ was what she thought to herself.

"Uhm well yes…it seems I did fall out of the sky," Louise said with a slight chuckle as she was being even more obvious.

"Quite a strange way to get to this place," the boy said looking at her, "your clothes…they don't look like the clothes we wear, are you from another world?"

"Huh? Another world? Of course not, that's ridiculous," Louise said, how could the boy simply say that so easily? Was this what the commoners were really like?

"Well then if you were from our world how did you get here? The entire border around Belfast is closed off by the army because of the Confederacy," the boy replied as Louise looked at him blankly, "do you…even know who the Confederacy are?" he asked as she slowly shook her head as the thought of her entering another world became that much real.

"Uhm…have you ever heard of Tristain?" Louise asked as the boy looked at her strangely before shaking his head.

"Is that where you're from?" the boy asked, but Louise didn't hear him as she was too busy screaming in panic. How on earth did it come to this? She wanted freedom from her family, but not in the form of another world and if what the boy said was true then it seemed she was in deep trouble.

Finally Louise calmed down as she took a deep breath, there was no sense in trying to find her way back home, she didn't even know what kind of spell took her here in the first place. The only thing she could do now was make sure she stayed out of combat and tried to find a safe place to go to, "Well," she said clearing her throat, "since you know that I'm not from this world I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, it is a pleasure to meet you mr…"

"That's a long name," the boy said as Louise nearly face vaulted.

"That's not the thing you should be worrying about!" Louise exclaimed, "I can't help it that I have a long name, most nobles in my world have ridiculously long names."

"Ooh…so you're a noble?" the boy asked.

"Well…yeah…I suppose," Louise said not sure how to break it to him that she wasn't really a noble anymore since she ran away from her family. Would her mother cut all ties with her the moment she heard what happened? She was a strict woman and she had never really shown any mercy to Louise, or her sisters, when it came to disciplining them so perhaps she would…it hurt her to admit it, but that's just how her mother is.

"You suppose so?" the boy asked again.

"You ask a lot of questions don't you?" Louise retorted.

"My pa often says I'm kind of an airhead that's why I ask lots of questions, besides I like asking questions…it makes me smarter," the boy said with a soft smile, "I'm Alexander Manos by the way."

"Nice to meet you Alexander," Louise said, "now…would you mind telling me about the world you're in? I suppose I better start learning about it," as Alexander then began to explain to her about the world she arrived in as best he can. She was now in a world that was in the middle of a war between two factions, one was the Divine Confederacy which was made up of several powerful countries all under the rule of Romania who believed that they were destined to rule the world as ordained by their God. And the other one was Empire of States which opposed them, however many other smaller nations were caught in between including the province of Belfast where Louise was right now. However Belfast had repeatedly told both sides that they refused to fight in the war, and since they were away from the main centre of the fighting they thought they were in the clear, however that was not the case as the Confederacy was now launching a campaign against them and Belfast was in a state of wartime.

It was very different from Louise's world as in her world everyone was at peace with each other, there were rarely any wars between the countries and even Tristain was in a state of peace. However what shocked Louise was when Alexander told her that everyone in Belfast, at the age of fifteen and above, were to enlist in the milita army and fight, "W-w-wait…you're telling me that I…I need to fight? In a war?" Louise exclaimed in shock.

"Pretty much," Alexander said, "I'm going to go to the local enlistment office tomorrow. I thought I might spend my last day here before going to the capital and to the training camp."

"B-but…I'm not from your world, they'll know that right? They'll have some sort of record to say who's able to enlist right?" Louise said panickingly.

"Well…I don't know about that, but the other option is that you'll be taken in as a Confederacy spy and they'll most likely torture you for information," Alexander said bluntly as she could feel the weight of that statement.

"So my only choices are either enlistment and potentially death, or being taken in, tortured and definitely executed," Louise stated as Alexander nodded, "oh why me?" she wailed before sighing, "Alright…I suppose I don't have any other choice, at least I'll try to keep myself alive."

"That's the spirit," Alexander said with a smile as Louise glared at him.

"You're taking this a little bit too easily aren't you?"

"I like to view things in an easy way, it's much easier then simply worrying about things."

"Man…I wonder if you'll be soldier material."

"I'm wondering the same too, hey since you don't have a place to stay, you can stay at my place. I'm sure my parents will be more then pleased to have you."

"You sure about that?"

"Of course! But don't tell them, or anyone, that you're from another world as they'll think you're crazy and just throw you into a mental institution."

"Thanks…I'll try to keep that in mind," Louise said blandly as they went to Alexander's house, as he said his parents were more then happy to accommodate Louise as they had never had a guest before.

"By the way…you speak very good English," Alexander said, "is English the native tongue in your world?"

"Of course it is," Louise replied, "what did you expect I would be speaking?"

"Some sort of alien language, we would have to use pictures to decipher what we're trying to communicate," Alexander replied as Louise sighed in surrender, Alexander was one strange person that's for sure.

They didn't seem to question Louise's clothing nor her hair colour, which was of course abnormal even in her world, as they continued to ask her where she was from and what she was doing here. Most of the answers came from Alexander who answered it for Louise seeing as how she couldn't answer even the simplest of questions without blowing her cover.

Finally night came as Louise was given a bed that used to be Alexander's sister, she had moved into the capital for her studies and hasn't returned since. Louise went to bed as Alexander stayed with his family talking quietly about the enlistment tomorrow, for Louise it was still bizarre that she was going to actually fight in a war. She knew her mother was a famous soldier, but for her to follow in her footstep? It was still a surreal thing to be thinking about as Louise wondered if she would ever survive this war.

The next day Louise and the Manos' went to the local enlistment office as she was dressed in different clothing, she had discarded her own clothes away as it made her stand out too much and she borrowed from the Manos' mainly from their daughter's as she was a perfect fit for her. It was strange not wearing her normal clothes, it was like wearing a different skin, but she knew that she couldn't wear it any longer as she was in a different world and was no longer a noble anyways.

It was already packed with people of all age and gender as Louise wondered if this meant _everyone_ in the town was going to enlist, "That's pretty much right," Adriana Manos replied, "it's also a way to protect us in case of an invading army. You see if everyone enlists in the war effort then there won't be any civilian casualties if the Confederacy decides to attack the villages."

"Makes sense…I suppose," Louise said as it was finally their turn as Louise was a little bit nervous. What was she supposed to say? The Manos' didn't know what the process was like and that made her even more nervous as she just hoped that she would be able to pass off as an inhabitant of this world as it was finally her turn as she gulped and walked into the interview room. The room was devoid of anything other then two chairs and a table, the chair and table was currently occupied by a uniformed officer as he gestured for Louise to get a seat as he sighed and took out a paper and pen.

"Name," he asked.

"L-Louise Fran- I mean Louise Valliere," Louise replied deciding to keep her name short as no one had a long name like hers.

"Age," the officer asked.

"S-sixteen," she replied as she wondered if she was going to be the youngest recruit ever as the officer looked up briefly before looking down again.

"Any allergies, medical problems or anything else we should know about such as fear of height or something like that?"

"N-no none at all," Louise said, it wasn't to say that she was fearless, it just that she couldn't think of anything that would stop her dead in her tracks, or make her run the other way.

"Education level," the officer asked as Louise hesitated a little about this, she couldn't say outright that she had magical training could she? Other then that she didn't know what else to say other then.

"Basic education," as Louise felt a little embarrassed by it, a noble would say that she, or he, trained at the best magical academy ever and could do such and such magic. But in this world she couldn't say that so that was what she was forced to say.

"No specialized skill, can you fix a machine or build something?" the officer asked as Louise shook her head, she couldn't well say that she was a noble as she was intelligent enough to know that people would just laugh at her for saying that as the officer signed off on something before stamping her paper. Welcome to the Belfast Milita Corps. Miss Valiere, good luck…you'll need it,"

Louise was surprised, she was in, she was actually enlisted in the army as the officer grunted as Louise took the paper before exiting the room as the Manos' were outside as Louise stared blankly into space. "Are you alright Louise?" Adriana asked.

"Huh? Oh y-yes I'm alright just a little…surprised that's all," Louise said, "I'm in…I'm actually going to be fighting…I don't know whether to cry, scream in fear, or just smile."

"It takes time to get used to that knowledge, now let's see where you've been assigned to," Adriana said as she read Louise's document, "oh my so you've been assigned to an infantry unit. Oh and the same one as Alexander is in, that's wonderful dear," she beamed.

"Where have you been assigned to?" Louise asked.

"Oh I'm an Army medic, I have medical training so I guess that's where I'm going. Robert here is going to be in charge of fixing things since he's dad taught me how to fix machines when he was little," Adriana said as she then leaned closer to Louise, "do try to help Alexander will you? I can't help, but be worried about him…oh how he's so airheaded and doesn't know what's going on half the time…"

"D-don't worry, I get that sort of vibe from him," Louise said, "but alright. I'll make sure to keep him safe and sound."

"Thank you dear, I know it's a lot since we just met," Adriana said.

"It's fine, Alexander helped me out a lot, plus it's better to have a friend in times like this, so when do we head off to the capital?"

"That would be in a few days, it's enough time for us to prepare our things and say goodbye to our homes for now," Adriana said.

"Don't worry you'll see it again," Louise said as she knew that it might be a little presumptious for her to say that, but she needed to say something to lift the tension on the atmosphere.

"Haha I'm sure we will, all of us will," Adriana said.


	3. Chapter 2: Squad 13

**Hi everyone, it's time for a new chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourite and followed the story I really appreciate it. I hope to get lots of reviews from this story, each review is an encouragement to keep on writing. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, see you all soon.**

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"Whoever had the smart idea of having a militia force…should be incinerated, chopped up and then fed to the wolves!" Louise exclaimed as she felt right now that she was ready to just collapse and puke her entire breakfast out. But she knew that if she did that then she would have to redo the entire run and this was the final run of her training time in the boot camp, she passed this and she was a militia through and through. It had been approximately a month since they had arrived at the capital, they were then separated from Adriana and Robert as they had their own things to deal with while the infantry, which were the majority of the enlisted, were sent to the training camp. But right now Louise would have given anything in order to not be here, because the recruits were expected to be battle ready in about a month everything was accelerated and therefore the drill instructors were twice as hard on them then with the regular army.

However there was a good thing to all of this harsh training as it managed to fix Louise's attitude. Being new to this whole ordeal Louise still had her 'noble' attitude and was sometimes quite arrogant towards other people, she just wasn't used to actually being bossed around as even in the academy everyone was of a noble background and they were expected to treat each other politely. Of course this wasn't the academy and the drill instructors were anything, but polite, she had spoken back against them saying that a training drill was ridiculous. All she got for her trouble was running an extra mile and no breaks, but her personality was soon changed into something that was suitable to this world, she became hardened and less arrogant though sometimes when she spoke with other recruits one could still see the hint of nobility within her if they knew Louise long enough. Most people would have said that she just another stuck-up recruit, but Louise still had her pride as a noble even if she was no longer considered as one, overall she became a little bit nicer to other people though still stuck it out with Alexander whenever she had the chance.

"Don't you mean chop them up, feed them to the wolves and then burn them?" Alexander asked curiously as Louise sighed.

"It's a figure of speech, it doesn't matter which comes first," Louise replied as she tried to keep up with the other recruits, life in the academy had not included good exercise and therefore she was very unfit for training yet alone combat, however she was stubborn and she continued to persevere despite the mounting pressure on her small body.

"I see," Alexander said as Louise wondered what drove the boy to continue as they finally stopped as all the recruits dropped to the ground in exhaustion as Louise panted and started seeing spots as water was given out to all the recruits as they drank it heartily. "Are you okay Louise?" Alexander asked as Louise gave a chuckle, even though she promised Adriana that she would protect Alexander it seemed that it was the other way around and Louise often found herself being helped by the boy.

"Yeah I'm fine, this is nothing," Louise said as the drill instructor explained that they had successfully completed their final test and were ready for combat as the recruits cheered, "finally!" Louise exclaimed cheering with the others. The group then dispersed as the squad groups would come tomorrow as Louise went with Alexander, "Do you think that we'll still be together?" she asked.

"Hmm? Oh I don't know, they might put us in different squads, after all I did get a better score in the weapons training," Alexander said jokingly as Louise poked him in the ribs.

"Stop joking around, it was my first time with a gun alright?" Louise said.

"Same here," Alexander retorted as Louise pouted as he gave his signature smile again, "don't worry Louise, if we're in separate squads then I'll request a transfer to yours."

"Y-you really do that?" Louise asked as Alexander nodded as she felt a little bit embarrassed that she was somewhat not fulfilling her role.

"Hey you love birds, what are you two doing?" a voice called out followed by the two of them dragged into a hug as Alicia Forrest came into the scene. Alicia Forrest was very much like Kirche back in Louise's world, a woman who used her body for anything that she wanted, she even had several boyfriends much like Kirche! It was almost creepy how the two of them acted the same way and had the same identical appearance save that Alicia had long black hair.

"Alicia I keep telling you that we're not dating!" Louise said, for some reason Alicia Forrest had the strangest idea that she and Alexander were dating despite her protests. In a way she was more annoying then Kirche and while Louise might not hate Alicia, she did dislike her for being really nosy, "how many times do I have to tell you before it gets into your brain."

"Hmm? Do you hear something? I didn't think I heard you," Alicia said as Louise pouted.

"Now, now don't tease Louise Alicia," Alexander said, "you know she gets upset whenever you tease her."

"But it's so much fun teasing her~" Alicia said, "so, so where do you think you two will be placed?"

"Well I offered to Louise that if we are in two different units then I'll request a transfer to her unit so she can keep her promise," Alexander said as Louise looked at him in complete shock.

She'll miss understand that! Louise thought to herself and as expected Alicia gave them a coy smile as she chuckled behind her hand.

"And you keep denying that you aren't going out together," she said, "well I don't mind where I get posted as long as it's away from any major battles."

"Doesn't that make the point of joining the militia a little moot?" Louise asked.

"Well I gotta keep my face intact, after all I'm going to be a rising star once this war's over," Alicia said as Louise remembered that Alicia wanted to be a movie star once the war was over though Louise wondered if she could really make it as a movie star.

"That is if you survive the war in the first place," another voice said as Louise turned to see Adrian Potter, the most pessimistic person she has ever come across, as he pushed his glasses with his gloved hands, "you could end up as nothing more then a pretty corpse on the battlefield."

"Oh look who it is," Alicia said a little coldly, "if it isn't Mr Pessimistic."

"My, my no need to go that far Alicia," Alexander said, "I'm sure that Adrian was just being a little realistic right?"

"Hmph…realistic, if you want reality then perhaps you should prepare for the reality that you might all be imbeciles for actually looking forward to fighting," Adrian said before walking away as Alicia looked ready to kill him.

"I hope he's not in my squad or else we're going to have serious problems," Alicia huffed as Louise chuckled nervously also hoping that he wasn't in her squad either, it would be a complete pain if he was always talking that way before a battle. The rest of the day Louise spent it with Alexander as they wandered around the academy and talked about what they would be expecting on the battlefield, neither of them wanted to actually fight but the war was now in full swing and the Confederacy had already penetrated deep into Belfast and therefore there was a high chance that their squad might be called into battle.

"Louise can I ask you something?" Alexander asked as they watched the setting sun.

"Hmm? What is it?" Louise asked.

"Do you think about your life back in your world? I know we haven't talked about it in depth and whenever I try to bring it up you seemed to be…hurt by it," Alexander said as Louise looked down. The reason that she didn't want to talk about her world with Alexander was because she just didn't want to face the fact that she would probably never be able to return to her world ever again, that she was stuck here and she was on the fence about that. On the one hand she was free, really free, as there was no one in her world who would drag her back to her manor and to her marriage with Wardes; she was free to be whoever she wanted to be and she was her own person. However naturally she missed her family and she wondered if her mother was worried about her, or would she simply remain the cold woman that Louise knew her to be. "I'm sorry…it must be a painful experience," Alexander said.

"No don't be," Louise said, "you ask if I think about my world? Then yeah I do, it's hard not to, however…even though I'm enlisted in the militia and I could most likely die one day I…I don't regret ever coming to this world by mistake. This world…is the first time I could ever be free and be who I want to be, no need to listen to nobles prattle on about the commoners, never again would I feel those scrutinising eyes…here I can start fresh and…" she looked at Alexander and smiled, "and I've met a great person here."

"Ooh…how very nice," Alexander said smiling back though Louise didn't know if Alexander knew that it was him that she was talking about or he was just playing with her.

The next day was utter chaos as all the recruits rushed to the board to see who they were teamed up with and which squad they were assigned to. Louise and Alexander had to fight their way through the crowd to get to the board and much to their joy they were both in the same squad as Louise and Alexander grinned at each other, "Looks like there's no need to ask for a transfer then," Louise said as Alexander nodded.

"Oh then lucky me," Alicia said out of nowhere as Louise jumped slightly, "looks like I'm in squad 13 too…isn't that squad too Louise?" as Louise groaned after seeing that Alicia was indeed in her squad, "Looks like I'll be watching the development between you two love birds."

"For the last time Alicia I am not-" Louise began as she then saw Alicia with a horrified expression on her face, "what's wrong?" she asked as she looked at the list and eeked as she saw what Alicia saw.

"Oh damn it…looks like I'm on squad 13…how troublesome," Adrian said before sighing and walking away.

"It's you whose troublesome you damn pessimistic!" Alicia yelled as she fumed, "How bad is our luck to be teamed up with him? Now we gotta listen to his sad, tragic prattle all day long…man that's enough to already tire me out."

"It might not be so bad," Alexander said optimistically, "perhaps he'll change once we get to know each other."

"Yeah…when pigs fly," Alicia said, "well I gotta go and get ready, see you guys in the debriefing room. Can't wait to see who our squad leader is gonna be, I hope it's a handsome hottie," she said with a giggle before walking away.

"I can already tell this squad's going to be a disaster," Louise said.

"Don't say such pessimistic things, you're starting to sound like Adrian," Alexander commented.

"Don't compare me to him you idiot!" Louise exclaimed, "And since when did I 'start' sounding like him?"

"Just now," Alexander replied truthfully as she sighed and went to get her things before going to the debriefing room where she was to meet with the rest of her squad and her squad leader. As she walked to her room she was starting to feel a little nervous, training time was over and more then likely in the next few days she was going to actually starting seeing some actual combat.

Of course everyone would be nervous, but for Louise who had never even fought with anyone at school it was a terrifying thought, which was ironic seeing as how her mother was the famed Karin of the Heavy Wind and was a famous mage that fought in many battles. Perhaps she was not the only child with a parent who was famous, or perhaps she was as she never really interacted with anyone outside of Alexander and Alicia. She would need to make sure to socialise a lot with her team mates, after all her life was in their hands and theirs in hers, if she didn't trust them then the whole thing is going to fall apart and potentially all of them would be dead.

She went to her room and packed what little possession she had into a bag before looking at her room, it would be strange for her to leave the room after living here for a month, no doubt the living accommodation on the battlefield would be less pleasant so she prepared herself that mentally. 'Wonder what mother felt like when she was going to her first combat? Was she as nervous as me?' Louise wondered to herself as she went to the debriefing room and saw that she was the first one there, she didn't have anything else to do so she decided to just wait here for the others to arrive. It was strange that she had time to herself as usually she was either asleep on the bed after training, or with Alexander and making sure he kept out of trouble which wasn't hard as Alexander was the quiet kind of person and stayed away from people. Louise wasn't quite sure why she tried hard to keep her promise with Adriana, the Manos' family were recent entrants in her life and she only met them once when Alexander invited her to his home to stay for the night, was it because she felt that she was obliged to help them? Or was it something else? It confused her completely and she groaned as she laid her head down on the table as she was starting to feel bored and wondered if she should go meet up with Alexander and accompany him.

"Huh, I never thought that there would be someone who was earlier then me," as Louise turned to see a muscled man with spiky brown hair, "so you're part of this squad too huh? I'm David, David Lambrough, nice to meet you."

"I'm Louise Valliere likewise," Louise said a little bit intimidated by the man since he was so big and it reminded her of her mother when she was disciplining her children.

"So what's a girl like you serving in the militia? You look a little bit too small for it," David said as Louise pouted, she hated being looked down because of her small body and height, even if she wasn't as big as other people it doesn't mean that she was weak. If anything she would be willing to go the extra mile in order to prove to the others that she wasn't weak and that actually helped her to pass the training courses though not without much suffering. "Haha don't be so upset I was just playing with you," David said seeing her expression, "I know that you wouldn't have gone through the training course without some serious dedication. I look forward to seeing what you can do."

"Same here," Louise said, "so…you like to be early to these kinds of things?" she asked referring to his opening comment.

"Hmm? Oh yeah I like to be early to things like these, I'm a real stickler for time and I don't like to be late to anything. Though I'm surprised that you would be here early, I thought you would still be celebrating passing the training course like all the other recruits," Adam said.

"Haha no…I'm waiting for a friend and was thinking of joining him in his dorm since he has a tendency to get into trouble if I'm not around, but I think he'll arrive okay," Louise said.

"And indeed he did," Alexander chimed in as he smiled at them both, "hello Louise it seems I didn't get into trouble at all."

"Ah I was joking, I was joking," Louise said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Alexander said, "I'm Alexander Manos."

"David Lambrough, so…you two more then friends?" David asked as Louise blushed.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Louise asked as Alexander merely smiled.

"Well it's not hard to see that you two are quite close to each other," David said, "and besides I've seen you two a couple of times and you're always together no matter where you go."

"Well as I said I have to make sure that he doesn't get into trouble, for some reason you have a very high tendency to get into all sorts of things," Louise remarked.

"I apologise for that," Alexander said with a soft laugh, "my mother always did say that I must have some sort of bad luck, like one time I fell into a hole while looking at the sky."

"I think that's more the fact that you weren't watching where you were going," Louise deadpanned.

"Oh...well then there's one time where a charging bull came at me while I was walking down the road," Alexander said.

"Why would there be a bull in the first place?" Louise asked.

"Don't know," Alexander replied as Louise sighed.

"You really are something aren't you?" Louise said as David laughed.

"And you two wonder why people misunderstand you," he said as more people began to file in, "well here's the rest of our squad, might as well make some new friends," as Adrian and Alicia walked in.

"So what were you two doing alone in a dark room?" Alicia asked as Louise sighed, completely giving up ever convincing the woman that she wasn't dating Alexander.

"We were hardly alone, we had David with us," Louise said pointing to the big man as Adrian and Alicia were surprised by his size.

"Oh my...he's huge," she remarked.

"Yeah, but don't let his size-" Louise began to say before another voice interrupted her.

"Well looks like everyone's here," a lazy voice said as Louise turned to see a blonde man wearing an officer's uniform standing there scratching his head, "well settle down everyone and get comfortable. My name is 2nd Lieutenant Mason Terry and I'm..." he then yawned loudly, "I'm your squad commander. Welcome to Squad 13 and all that," he said before he sat down on the chair as Louise blinked a couple of times in surprise This is our squad leader? He's as lazy as Guiche! she said to herself.

"Mason stop yawning and being a lazy person!" a sharp voice said before Mason was kicked out of the chair as a twin-tailed blonde girl stood over him.

"This is Sergeant Luna Terry, my sister and second-in-command of this squad. She'll be leading you through any firefights we'll go through though I hope we don't...it's a pain to go through something like that," Mason continued as he stood up.

"Is that something a commanding officer should be saying?" Luna asked, "You should take a little bit more pride in your role."

"Don't be so noisy Luna," Mason said yawning again, "it's unlikely we'll be going into a firefight anytime soon. The regular army got that covered and we'll probably be guarding some no name town or something like that," he said emphasising it with a wave of his hand.

Luna sighed as she faced the squad, "Alright listen up, we're all Squad 13 now, all of us is in it to defend Belfast from the Confederacy and to make sure that we continue to have our freedom. No matter what happens we're all like family now, we all have to trust each other so if you have any problems with a member then sort it out or get out of here. If not then you could potentially be getting us all killed, is that understood?" as she looked at the members as they coughed uncomfortably especially Adrian and Alicia who were both looking away from each other.

"Well..." Mason said, "now that my sister has got that sorted out," as Luna looked a little bit irritated at her brother, "as I said we don't have any standing orders. So far the Confederacy is being stalled by the regular army and hopefully we'll be sent to somewhere where there weren't be any sort of heavy fighting, however just in case I expect each and every one of you to be at your best ability. So continue training and working together because teamwork is vital to any unit and if we don't have that then we're goners. Any questions?"

"Yeah just one," a male with black spiky hair said, "do we get paid for this?" as Luna gaped at him with utter shock on her face.

"P-paid! We're at war! How the hell can you expect the government to pay you when you're serving your country!" Luna exclaimed.

"Hey, hey I'm just saying whether there's gonna be compensation if we get injured or something like that, we're not exactly a full time military soldier ya know," the man said with smile.

"I-I don't know," Luna said flatly though Louise could feel the anger simmering out of her, she really must be a patriotic person to be feeling this way, "now are there any meaningful questions?" she asked as no one said anything else, "Well then in that case you're dismissed," as the squad members began moving out of the briefing room as Alexander and Louise came out of the room.

"Well...that could've gone better," Louise commented.

"I think it went off wonderfully," Alexander said optimistically.

"I think you need to get your eyes checked," Louise deadpanned.

"Why? There's nothing wrong with my eyes, I can see just clearly," he replied in confusion.

"Never mind," Louise said, "I wonder if we will really be okay," she said to herself in despair.


	4. Chapter 3: First Blood

**Hi again everyone it's time for the 3rd chapter! Yay! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, fav and followed this story. I really appreciate it and I encourage more people to review as well. Also I want to make a small point in regard to Louise's magic, I know it sort of sounds strange for her not to use magic, but I plan on not having her use magic until later on in the story. After all she knows that if she uses magic it raises a whole lot of issues, so I hope everyone understands. I hope you enjoy this chapter and as always I would love to have more reviews, I always love reviews. See you next chapter.**

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As Mason predicted squad 13 were not called into any major battle or any battle of any kind. The day after they had met one another they were sent to guard a small town which was, at least according to the army 'of a high importance' to Belfast though in reality it was so far from the main battle that the chances of the Confederacy attacking them were almost nil. And so squad 13 spent their time leisurely getting to know one another and basically doing nothing as they were most of the time bored with the lack of activity though Luna did call some of them to patrol the area just in case there were enemy attacks.

Within the two week period Louise got to know most of the squad 13 members and they were really diverse in gender, age, skill and personality as Louise had a good time figuring them all out and seeing what they were able to do. Back home she didn't really care about people and tended to only stick to herself, being the 'zero' of the academy hurt her a lot, but pride prevented her from telling people that…she believed that as long as she worked hard then she would be able to become the best mage. She would be able to become something more then just a zero, however that did not occur and she retreated further and further until she was all but an unknown entity at the school, something only to be ignored and ridiculed. But here…in this new world she could be somebody else, someone that could prove useful and also she was able to make new friends and for the first time in her life she was actually enjoying herself.

"It's really quiet around here isn't it?" Alexander said as he was looking out into the wilderness trying to catch sight of anything that caught his attention, "But I guess that's a good thing."

"Hmm? Oh yeah it's great," Louise said absentmindedly as she was busy watching Alicia getting more and more irritated by Adrian and was hoping to see the aspiring actress snap and yell at the pessimistic man before being broken up by Daniel. It was the funny thing about the three of them, it seemed that Adrian and Alicia were scared of Daniel because of his size even though he always gently broke them apart and talked to them to see if they can't be friends. It was quite hilarious sometimes to see the two of them squirm.

"Watching the starlet and Mr. Despair?" Alexander remarked as Louise smiled.

"Well it's as you said, it's boring and quiet here so there has to be some sort of entertainment right," Louise said as she peeked over to see the man who was asking about pay, Robert Danes, haggling another merchant about a piece of cloak. Apparently Robert comes from a merchant family, which explains his desire for money as apparently he was a terrible merchant and his father refused to give him money and told him to 'go and become a merchant' and thus Robert has resorted to anything to get money. Though because of this he has a keen eye for quality and marksmanship making him an excellent sniper as Louise sighed as she watched Robert kicked by Luna who berated him on being a poor soldier before ordering him out on patrol.

"Doesn't seem that there is a shortage of entertainment," Alexander said.

"Well at least we're entertained right?" Louise said as she continued to scan the area for an attack, before Alicia and Robert came up to relieve them, the two of them then came down from the tower as they went to a building that used to be an inn, but now serves as squad 13's barracks and a place to sleep which Louise was going to do seeing as how she served a night shift as she plopped herself onto the bed, "I'm so tired~" she said.

"Well at least you weren't up fixing up the defences," Alice Mayfield said as Louise turned to face her other best friend. Alice Mayfield was the daughter of a metalworker and is a keen engineer, she is always at ease fixing things and whenever Louise sees her, she is always fiddling around with something or other. However she has a tendency to complain about the workmanship of the defences or weapons, much to the irritation of several army engineers though she always manages to shut them up with a good solid punch as she was stronger then she looked.

"Oh yeah, how are they?" Louise asked.

"Better then before," Alice replied, "though if I had done it in the first place I wouldn't have to go twice to fix the blasted thing."

"Come on Alice, you and I know that you're the most happiest when you're fixing things. If Luna didn't have you doing things you would've been sulking in your room," Louise teased.

"I do not sulk!" Alice retorted as Louise grinned as Alice then went and tackled her before tickling her as Louise began laughing, "Come here you…" she growled.

"Ok, ok I give, I give," Louise said laughing as she tried to fight her off. It was a common tactic that Alice used to get the upper hand on Louise, mainly because she was ticklish and her smaller frame allowed her to be pinned to the ground at the mercy of the other woman, as eventually they got tired of it as they were sprawled on the ground. "You should stop doing that…I'm gonna die laughing if you keep it up," Louise commented.

"That wouldn't be a bad thing," Alice said as Louise looked at her with a disapproving look on her face, "what? It's not!"

"Come on…death by laughter? How pathetic is that?" Louise remarked as Alice shrugged, "Now I'm never going to get any sleep, if I fall asleep in the middle of the battle I'm blaming you," Louise said. She didn't even bother taking off her militia uniform, a red-and blue uniform with squad 13's insignia stitched to her right shoulder along with her combat gloves and boots though she let her black knee-high stockings remain while her other clothes were discarded. It was too much trouble and she learned it take a long time to get them prepared…time you don't have in a battle.

"On the contrary I predict in three seconds you'll be asleep like a baby," Alice said as she began counting down, but already on three Louise was asleep as she giggled, "sleep well Louise," she said as she picked the girl up and placed her on the bed.

The next time Louise would wake it would be from Alice shaking her violently, "Louise wake up! We're under attack!" she yelled as a loud explosion rocked the sleep off of her as Louise sat up and grabbed her rifle, "Come on!" Alice said as Louise followed her out and she could already see that a part of the building had been blown out as Louise wondered how lucky she was that it wasn't her room that was being attacked as she clambered down the stairs just as the room she came out of exploded as she skidded along the ground before being picked up by Alice as they came out of the inn to see a battle going in full swing. Several of the squad were already engaged in a gunfight with white, armoured soldiers with a golden cross on their left shoulder signifying them as from the Divine Confederacy.

"How did they get here without us knowing?" Louise asked as she ran to a sandbag and crouched there as bullets flew over her head.

"I have no idea," Alice replied as she popped up and fired a few shots before ducking down again, "more importantly where the hell is Lieutenant Terry?" as Louise could not see their commanding officer anywhere at all.

"Don't tell me he's too lazy to even get his ass down here," Louise remarked as she saw Luna running full speed towards the squad before sliding towards cover before she fired her assault rifle at them.

"Louise, Alice! Flank their right, we'll cover you," Luna ordered as Louise and Alice got up and under the cover of fire skirted to the side where they went through several buildings before ending up at the right of the enemy flank.

"So how do you want to do this?" Louise asked.

"I don't know, grenade?" Alice asked, "I only have my rifle and three grenades. You?"

"Just my rifle," Louise replied as Alice sniggered, "hey I'm not an engineer like you, you know!"

"Alright, alright, grenade then rifle okay?" as Louise nodded, Alice then took out her grenade and unpinned it before throwing it right in the middle of the enemy squad as it exploded sending shrapnel everywhere before the two of them popped out of cover and began shooting anything that was moving. Three of the Confederacy fell before they had a chance to retaliate before Louise and Alice had to duck down again as the others retaliated, "damn it they have Stormtroopers with them." Stormtroopers was another name for the assault-class unit which were armed with more armour then the normal riflemen as well as being armed with machine guns, they were more dangerous especially in a group and even more so for lightly armoured soldiers like Alice and Louise.

"Well it wouldn't be a squad without a Stormtrooper or two right?" Louise remarked.

"Yeah unless it's on the opposite side," Alice said peeking over before ducking down again as a hail of bullets rattled against the sandbags, "ok we need to get out of here and back to the main line. Think we can make it past the Stormtroopers?"

"I don't know you tell me," Louise said as Alice looked at her in askance, "hey I'm no strategist, I leave that to Lieutenant Terry…if he ever gets off his lazy ass."

"So true," Alice said as she peeked over the cover, "I guess we can make a dash for it if you really want to."

"Well the only other way that I see us getting there is if we risk getting shot while going from here to the building over there," Alice said as Louise saw that it was a good distance from the cover to the building and with the Confederacy shooting at them the chances of them getting shot was quite good. "Want to risk it? Or just wait for the others to draw their attention away?"

"Well it probably won't be long before they're d-dead anyways," Louise said as now that the adrenaline was not so high she just realised that she killed someone, she paled considerably as she took deep breaths to calm herself. This was a war and she knew that she would have to kill people, but it was still a little bit unreal to her as she felt Alice touch her shoulder as she gasped.

"Hey don't have a breakdown now," Alice said, "do it after the battle's over," as Louise saw that she was gripping her rifle so hard that her knuckles had gone white.

"I-I'm sorry…" Louise said, "I…I just…"

"I know same here," Alice said, "but if you freeze up now we're both going to be dead. Let's just concentrate on getting out of here first," as Louise nodded as they got ready to run, "on three…two…one," as they then ran full speed towards the building. As expected bullets began flying towards them as Louise could feel several whizz past her as her chest was straining to keep up with the exertion, she may have improved her physical condition by a mile thanks to the training, but it still hurt to run continuously as her legs were burning with pain. She wanted to stop, but she knew that if she even slowed down she wouldn't live through the fight as each step felt like her legs were made out metal, as she finally managed to get inside the building.

She looked back and saw that Alice also managed to get to the building safely as she sighed in relief, "I thought I was a goner there," Louise remarked.

"Come on we don't have time to stop," Alice said as Louise got up despite just wanting to simply lie there and rest getting out of the building and rejoining with the rest of the squad.

"Good work you two," Luna said, "now let's push them back," as the squad re-doubled their efforts to drive the Confederacy out of the town as they pushed them back, with most of their forces dead the rest of them retreated out as the squad cheered for their first victory. Louise felt relieved that the battle was over as she slumped against the wall still a little bit surprised that she actually _survived_ a battle. Not to mention that she actually killed a few of the soldiers as she immediately felt sick before she then puked on the ground, could she really do this? Could she really become a soldier? What would happen to her? Would she eventually become just an emotionless soldier, a person that just killed people simply because she was ordered to do so? Would she become nothing more then a monster?

"Louise? Louise are you okay?" Alexander asked as Louise looked at him, he didn't look any different then before, he seemed to be quite normal despite what had just happened. And his smile…his smile seemed to be too abnormal in the situation as she growled.

"Why do you keep smiling?" Louise asked, "Why do you act as though nothing has happened? How…how do you keep being Alexander?" she knew that it was unfair of her to snap at him like this. But she couldn't help, but feel frustrated at her situation how did it turn out like this? All she wanted to do was escape from her life as a glorified prisoner, not thrust into a war that she knew nothing about as tears threatened to spill out of her eyes; but years of keeping her grief and frustration to herself allowed her to simply sob out now and again.

Alexander looked at Louise as he blinked a couple of times before he sat down next to Louise as she rested her head on his shoulder, "Well that's simple really. I just think about home, I just think that even though I've killed someone I've survived…although it's quite morbid I think that you just need to concentrate on what you want to achieve in this war. The most common thing of course is survival, however some are in it for glory or for another thing, I think it's important to concentrate on something and not think about all the death and destruction," he explained.

"But it's so hard," Louise said, "how…how can I keep on going?"

"Just think about returning home," Alexander said, "think about going back to your world and how happy people will be that you've returned safe and sound."

"Happy…I wonder about that," Louise muttered to herself.

"Did you say something?" Alexander asked.

"Huh? Oh no I didn't say anything," Louise said with a smile, she had never told Alexander about her family circumstances. It was still a painful wound for her, she didn't want to think what her family would be doing now that she was missing for almost a month and a half. Would there be a search for her? Certainly Henrietta would help in the search as she cared for Louise greatly and no doubt her older sister Cattleya would continue to plead to her mother to search for her, but have they given up? Have they thought her as completely gone? Or worse dead? The mere thought that her family had given up on her was painful and so she never thought about it.

"Alright everyone gather around," Luna said as the squad gathered around her, "good work on fending off the Confederacy. Everyone did a fine job and I'm glad to see that none of us are seriously hurt despite the fact that they got the jump on us." Louise looked around and she was surprised to see that no one was seriously hurt, she had expected in a war setting that there would be a few people injured by the fight, or even killed, especially since they were not really trained for combat. Louise didn't know whether to put that as a miracle, skill, or just pure luck.

"Why did that happen?" Adrian asked as he glared at Alicia and Robert, "I thought you two were supposed to be looking out? Some sentries you two are."

"Hey they got us by surprise too you know!" Alicia retorted, "One moment they weren't there and then the next they were there."

"Enough!" Luna shouted bringing their attention to her, "We're not going to blame anyone, everyone makes mistakes and we'll learn from this mistake," she said as Alicia looked away in annoyance while Robert had the grace to actually look embarrassed. "Right now our top priority is continuing to hold this city, I suppose that command was right in sending us here seeing as how we got a full platoon heading towards us."

"Any tanks with them?" David asked shifting his anti-tank rifle.

"Not that we are aware of though I doubt they don't have any, therefore we'll double the number of sentries," as some of the squad members grumbled at that but Luna ignored them, "Alice would you please re-check our defensive structures to see if they can be reinforced."

"I've done the best I can with them!" Alice exclaimed, "No matter how many times I go there the result will always be the same: eventually it'll just crumble away."

"I know, but could you please just check it?" Luna asked as Alice sighed, "The rest of you go get some rest. I'm going to report back to Lieutenant Terry."

"By the way where is our illustrious lieutenant?" Adrian asked, "Why wasn't he here fighting with us? Or does he think he's more valuable then us mere soldiers?"

"I…I don't know!" Luna said as Louise could see that she was highly embarrassed by this, no doubt Mason was in for a good beating, "I…I lost him when we were running towards here."

"Hmph, no doubt he's just run away and hid while we were risking our neck. Why should we even fight for him? Why is he our commanding officer?" Adrian asked as some of the squad members agreed with him.

"That is…" Luna said though she had no idea how to defend her brother.

"I wasn't hiding," Mason's voice cut in, "in fact I was scouting the enemy position."

"You were what!" Luna screamed as Mason stood there with a bored expression on his face, "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Ah that's simple…so I know what the enemy is planning," Mason said as he held Luna at bay by simply pushing her back as her arms weren't long enough to do anything to him.

"You were doing that instead of leading your men?" Luna asked.

"You were doing fine on your own," Mason replied, "besides I have an approximate number of hostile forces. They're camped close to here, naturally, and they have around 10 Stormtroopers left, 15 scouts, 5 anti-tank units and one light tank." The squad members then began to mutter amongst themselves nervously, "But not to worry!" Mason exclaimed, "For I have a plan to rout them all."

"Hey, hey we're not the army here," Adrian said, "how do you expect us to defeat them?"

"Oh that's simple," Adrian said, "we just hijack their tank and use it against them."

There was a brief moment of silence from everyone before they all gave cries of shock, "Y-you're insane!" Adrian exclaimed, "Hijack their tank? Do you think they're all idiots?"

"No, but I do have a plan that will ensure that we are able to drive them off and we get a light tank in the process, sounds like a good deal yes?" Mason said with a coy smile as Louise had a feeling that whatever plan he had was not going to be an easy one to work with.


	5. Chapter 4: Night-time Raid

**Hi everyone, here's the next chapter of the story. I appreciate the reviews I've been getting and I encourage them to keep on going. Also if anyone is interested I've set up a fanpage on Facebook for my account, feel free to like it so you can stay updated with what I'm doing. Thanks and see you in the next chapter.**

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"This…has…to be…the most…insane plan ever!" Louise hissed as she, Alexander, Luna and Alice were crawling through the forest area trying to inch closer to the enemy base. She couldn't believe that she was actually chosen for this as she wondered just how in Brimir's name was she going to survive something like this as she remembered the squad and tactical meeting that happened after Mason announced that he had a plan to drive them all back.

_Hours earlier_

"Our enemy is currently stationed here," Mason said pointing to a part of the map, "the enemy is surrounded in a forest area and is no doubt regrouping before going for another assault. They'll expect us to bunker down and work on our defences in anticipation of another assault, therefore here is what I propose: tonight we're going to have a crack team sneak up on the base and take the tank."

"Will it be that easy?" Adrian asked, "I mean it's not like the tank is just going to be wide open for someone to take it."

"Well then that's why we need an engineer," Mason said, "someone who is well versed on how tanks are built and how they are operated," as he turned to Alice who looked at her left and right before pointing at herself, "that's correct Alice you will be the key to this operation."

"Eh! I-I can't do something like this, sure I know how tanks are built but that doesn't mean I know how to operate it! It's two different things!" Alice argued.

"You're the only engineer we have in our squad currently, you're the only one we can count on. Without you this whole operation won't work," Mason replied calmly as Alice spluttered as she attempted to argue back, but after seeing everyone looking at her she sighed.

"I guess I can't help it can I? Alright I'll try my best," Alice said.

"Right, we'll need a few more people to accompany her, who wants to volunteer?" Mason asked as no one put their hand up as he looked at them in turn, "No one?"

"I'll go," Luna said as everyone looked at her, "I'm best at protecting everyone if the plan falls apart," as she looked hesitant despite her best attempt at looking calm and composed.

Alexander took a deep breath before putting his hand up, "I suppose I'll go as well," he said as Louise looked at him in aghast.

"W-what!" she exclaimed in shock, why would he of all people want to go in a potentially dangerous situation? Surely he would know that wouldn't he? Alexander then looked at Louise and smiled as she had a feeling that he was more or less forcing her to join knowing about Louise's promise to his mother and as a noble she could never break a promise to anyone. "F-fine I'll accompany them as well," she said.

"I think that's enough people for this kind of operation, the smaller the better," Mason said, "the rest of us will work on building up our defences, we want to fool the enemy into thinking that we're preparing for their next assault and we cannot, I repeat cannot, let the enemy know that we're preparing an assault of our own."

"But will they really be fooled?" Daniel asked.

"They know we're just the militia, not the real army, they'll think that I'm just a fool playing an army officer," Mason said as Louise gave a nervous chuckle _Well…you do look like a fool sometimes_ she thought to herself. "Therefore they won't expect something like this, now…once the strike team has gotten close to the base you must follow my words exactly to the letter," Mason said as he then began explaining the mission in detail.

Afterwards Louise and the others went out to get something to eat as Louise ate at the ration bread, the food in this world was something else that she needed to get used to. She was a noble and therefore the food that was at the academy was of a top quality and she enjoyed it immensely, the first time that she ate her ration she had to excuse herself and vomit it all out as it was the most horrible thing that she ever ate. She didn't know how she would be able to survive on such food, but it was the only food that the milita was giving them so she told herself that she needed to toughen herself up and eat it, at first she only ate a little bit of it before she couldn't eat it anymore. But then as time went on she got used to it and now she could eat all of it without throwing up, just shows how much she had changed since coming to this world.

"Louise! Louise!" Luna hissed as Louise woke up from her daydream, "What are you doing?"

"S-sorry I was just daydreaming," Louise said abash.

"Daydreaming now? Come on get with it," Luna said as Louise nodded and rejoined Alice and Alexander, "ok…it seems Mason was right, the enemy is more focused on getting ready for another assault, they've let the tank just sitting there though it's closed. Do you think you can open it without them knowing?" she said directing the question to Alice.

"Well if they used a simple lock then I can open it quickly without them knowing, but if it's a more complex one…it'll take some time," Alice said.

"Alright well here's hoping that the lock isn't too hard," Alice said as they waited for a patrol to pass them before quickly moving from cover to cover as they inched closer to the tank. Because it was pitch black they were able to hide themselves while the Confederacy had light all over the place so they were easily able to hone in on the tank as they finally arrived there. The tank was bigger then Louise expected as she could see the turret jutting out like a cannon and a machine gun settled on top of it to take out any enemy infantry as she gulped and wondered if everything would go as planned. Alice immediately went to work as she slowly climbed on top of the tank making sure not to make too much sound as she began fiddling with the lock on the tank.

The other three had never been more nervous in their life as they kept a watch out for any patrol that might be passing them or even a simple soldier relieving himself as he would be able to see Alice. Louise could feel her heart hammering against her chest in fear and anticipation, she didn't know whether or not the plan would work or whether she would live to see through it as she gripped her rifle tighter.

"Come on, come on…" Alice muttered to herself as she tried to pry the lock off, "oh damn!" she cursed as the wrench fell from her hand as it clanged against the tank loudly as there was a brief moment of silence before there was a cry of alarm and then the bullets began flying as they tried to shoot down the intruders.

"Oh come on!" Louise exclaimed as she fired back not caring whether it hit or not, she just shoot in order to survive knowing that if she was injured here then she was as good as dead. The adrenaline she felt back in the town came back to her like a tidal wave as she began firing shot after shot at the approaching Confederacy soldiers. Time seemed to slow down at that point as she could hear nothing but the sound of her own breathing, the smell of gunshots and the feeling of dread and fear at the pit of her stomach.

"Alice you better hurry up!" Luna said as she took out her machine gun and sprayed a line of bullets at the soldiers.

"I'm trying!" Alice said as the soldiers began gathering around the tanks as they called for help as finally Alice managed to get the lock off, "alright! Just in the nick of time," as Alice and Luna climbed onto the tank since the tank only could house two operators.

"Now we just need for them to get the tank up and running and we'll be good to go," Alexander said with a smile.

"Well they'll be fine, but what about us? We'll be killed!" Louise said as a bullet whizzed past her, "They're…they're not going to abandon us are they?" she asked with a slight fear in her voice as Alexander patted her head.

"No milita would ever abandon one of their own, that's what my pa told me," he said as the tank roared to life as the machine guns roared at the same time as the enemy soldiers fell back as they realised that their tank had been hijacked while calling for some anti-tank support. They soon arrived carrying bazookas that would seriously damaged, if not destroyed, the tank as Louise and Alexander supported the tank by shooting at them. Because they moved so slowly due to their heavy armour and weapon they were easy targets and they soon lay either injured or dead. The tank then continued on its way as Louise and Alexander followed it closely, as they now initiated the second phase of their plan.

The sounds of gunshots soon echoed at the front of the enemy camp as they realised that they were stuck in a pincer attack. That was Mason's plan all along, once the enemy was in disarray because their only tank had been taken by the enemy the rest of squad 13 would come in and attack them from the front, the combined pressure from the front forces and the rear tank drove the Confederacy forces into a wedge as they were quickly pinned by enemy fire. Eventually the order to retreat was given as the enemy broke apart as they scattered all over the place as there was a moment of silence within squad 13 as they could hardly believe what happened before Alexander said the obvious thing, "Looks like we won," as the squad then cheered as Louise cracked a smile and laughed in joy.

"I-incredible," Louise said, "we actually won, it actually worked!" as Alexander nodded as Alice and Luna climbed out of the tank as the squad congratulated them on a successful operation, the squad then stripped the enemy camp of anything useful ranging from weapons, ammos to even rations to supply themselves before returning back to the town and report back to command what had transpired. However Louise wondered one thing, "Will we be allowed to keep the tank?" she asked.

"Well it is a spoil of war, and we did win it rightfully so I don't see why command wouldn't allow us to keep it, and besides…we should have a tank when all the other squads have it," Luna said.

"Eh! All the other squads have a tank?" Louise exclaimed.

"Yeah a light tank at the very least though I've heard of a few who has a medium tank though those are the really rare since the army monopolizes all the good tanks," Luna said as Louise felt annoyed. It was no secret that the militia and army were not on good terms with each other because the army were more organised and therefore they thought themselves to be 'better' then the militia, who were only composed of civilians who were called into battle in times of war; therefore the army monopolized all the good weapons to fight the 'real' battles. It reminded Louise of the nobles back home who thought themselves to be better then the commoners, and it made her ashamed to be a noble who also had similar thoughts…that was part of the reason why she never talked to anyone. She just didn't want to be reminded about how arrogant she was before all of this started, the only person who understood that was Alexander and he didn't push a topic if Louise didn't want to talk about it.

"Well here's to keeping the tank, even if it's a light one," Louise said wearily.

"You're going to join us in the celebration?" Luna asked, "It's our first victory as a squad, that's something big."

"No I'm tired, I think I'll go to bed," Louise said as although she had stayed up late during her tenure as a soldier, she still wasn't used to it and if she didn't get enough sleep then she was prone to just crashing in the middle of the day. A really bad thing to happen when you're in basic training, thankfully she got past that and people won't mind it, but she needed to train herself to wake up when she wanted to wake up in case she needed to wake up when the enemy attacks.

"This isn't a light tank, this is a medium tank," one of the militia engineers said once reinforcement came in as Luna, Alice and Louise stood there in dumb shock.

"Huh? Medium tank?" Luna repeated.

"Yeah, this is much bigger then a light tank, but not as big as a heavy or even tank destroyer," the engineer said, "where did you guys snag this?"

"From the enemy…a few days ago," Luna said, they had called in for reinforcements after deciding that they wouldn't be able to hold the town if a full force arrived here. Command had agreed and they were relieved by a sizeable force while command analyse why the Confederacy would want to take the town, it had been a relief for squad 13 as that meant that they would be riding back to the capital for some rest before no doubt being sent back to the field though they would take every day off with gratitude. Luna had decided to also apprise the tank that they got to see if it was any good in combat, but they didn't expect it to be a medium-class tank.

"Well you guys are pretty damn lucky, this seems to be the newer model too, bigger gun range, armour is pretty decent too and the machine gun's a new addition. I say you guys keep this, it'll really boost your firepower overall," the engineer said before leaving them as Mason came forward.

"Ooh~ so it was a medium tank? I wonder how I misjudged that?" he asked though Louise could easily hear the sarcasm in his voice as Luna was practically livid.

"YOU KNEW THAT IT WAS A MEDIUM-CLASS TANK!" she screamed as she decked him pretty hard as Mason laughed nervously, "WE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED IN THAT OPERATION!"

"Well if I told everyone that we were facing a medium-class tank then we would have lost a chunk of morale so I just gave a white lie," Mason argued, "and it all worked out in the end."

Louise had to agree with Mason's line of thinking as it was better to think that they were facing a light tank then to think that they were a medium tank as they had better armour obviously and would be harder to destroy. However the way he did it bothered Louise, she didn't like to lie to people and although Mason meant well she just couldn't put it past anything, but deception. "I think it was wrong," Louise said as Mason turned to her, "I'm sorry for speaking out of turn, but I think you shouldn't have lied to us. I can understand where you are going from and why you did it, but…wouldn't it have been better if you told us from the start that we were facing a medium tank? At the very least we would have been prepared in case the operation went wrong, what if we didn't know? Then we would have been slaughtered because of the tank's machine gun addition." Louise could feel the eyes of everyone on her, but she had to speak the truth, she wouldn't want Mason to think that it was okay to lie to his team even if he held no malice…it would just end badly one day.

Mason blinked a couple of times as Alice and Luna looked at her as though she grew a second pair of head, as Louise awaited the inevitable as Mason would no doubt berate her and tell her that she only a simple soldier and she should follow orders without question. However Mason merely smiled as he then laughed, "You're quite honest aren't you Miss…"

"Valliere, Private Louise Valliere," Louise said including her rank, it seemed everyone started off as a Private except for Luna and Mason who were Sergeant and 2nd Lieutenant respectively, Louise wondered if she would be able to move up in the ranks as she continued to fight…probably not since it was only the militia and not a full-blown military career.

"Can I call you Louise?" Mason asked as Louise nodded, "Good, it makes things much easier, don't want to be too formal…it's a pain," he said before yawning. "So where was I? Oh yes your honesty-"

"I'm sorry if I was too blunt with my words, but I don't like to tackle the issue by not attacking it directly," Louise said and she wasn't, part of her noble upbringing was being as direct and quick as possible when getting her statement across; because of the political nature of the nobility it was much preferred to be quick and direct with your words then dancing around the issue.

"Actually it's quite refreshing," Mason said as Louise looked at him in surprise, "ah…to finally find someone who won't mince their words…how I've longed for someone like that. You'll be surprised how tedious it is to get someone to say or admit something simply because I'm an officer, even the other officers are careful with their words, what a pain…" as Louise blinked in complete surprise as Mason patted her head, "well I look forward to working with you Louise, I'm eager to see what you're capable of," before leaving her in complete shock.

"Eh…what just happened?" Louise asked.

"I think my brother complimented you," Luna offered.

"I thought he was going to yell at me or something like that," Louise admitted.

"Who Mason? Nah he never yells at anyone even when he should, he just says it's a pain and tries to talk to them normally. Though I was surprised that you would openly tell him that," Alice said as Louise chuckled nervously, "though I would watch your tongue around the other officers. Some of them won't take kindly to that."

"I'll keep that in mind," Louise said already knowing when to keep her mouth shut, she can thank also her background with the nobility for that.

"Well I think we all should get ready to go back to the capital, personally I feel like I need some rest after everything," Alice said.

"That's only one battle in a war," Luna said, "no doubt we'll be in more battles like that. But I do agree, it would be really good to have some R&R before we go on our next battle," as the three of them then got onto the transport trucks as Louise wondered if she would really be able to get through this entire war unscathed.


	6. Chapter 5: The Capital

**Hi everyone, time for another chapter. Thanks to necrofantasia and Mizuki00 for reviewing the story, I look forward to you guys and lots more for reviews. Also to Mizuki00 the answer is yes but not for a while. Anyways hope you guys enjoy the story.**

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"Finally we're in the capital!" Alice exclaimed as they arrived at the capital after a day's worth of driving there. The anticipation that the squad had in response to some relaxation after their first battle, Alice was animatedly talking about all the different metal workshops in the capital that she was going to visit while Alicia didn't stop talking about all the clothes that she was going to try out in order to see what the latest thing was. Louise personally didn't know what she was going to do once she got to the capital, she would most likely be stuck with Alexander again which isn't a bad thing though it showed how little friends she had in this world.

"Good now I can take a decent shower," Alicia said, "I feel so sticky and I don't even know what's on me by now."

"Ah stop your complaining," Adrian said with an irritated tone, "you'll just get dirty again once we-"

"No! Don't you dare jinx it," Alicia said clamping Adrian's mouth as he growled in irritation.

"Is there a problem you two?" Daniel asked stroding to them as they both yelped and shook their heads, "Good cause I don't want to deal with you two today okay? Play nice with each other."

"Y-yes sir," Adrian and Alicia said making Louise sigh, she really wished that they got along soon since she was a little bit tired of them arguing all the time, and somehow she was always at the centre of their arguments. Talk about bad luck.

"Louise do you have any idea about where you want to go?" Alexander asked as Louise looked at him.

"How about we visit your mother? She's working at the hospital isn't she?" Louise said as Alexander nodded, "Where does your father work?"

"Construction, he makes all the tanks and stuff…he's a good mechanic, but he's too old to be on the field as an engineer on the field," Alexander replied.

"Makes sense, and how about your sister? Where is she?" Louise asked.

"Hmm…I think ma said that she was a field commander, not sure what she meant exactly by that, I hope she's alright," Alexander said as Louise could see the concern on his face.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine," Louise said optimistically.

"You're right," Alexander said smiling, "I'm sure she's just fine," though Louise could see that he wasn't exactly sure about that as Louise prayed that Alexander's sister will be alright.

"Alright everyone you got some leave now, take care not to indulge in too much alcohol and be always ready to move out," Mason said as he yawned again, "for me…I'm gonna hit the hay."

"Hey! You still have your paperwork to submit!" Luna called out.

"You can take care of that," Mason replied as Luna continued to yell at her brother as the rest of the squad dispersed to their own devices and destination with Alicia humming to herself happily before making a beeline for the nearest shop while Alice drove the tank to a nearby workshop no doubt to properly assess the tank that they got the other day.

"Well let's go Alexander, better meet your mother first," Louise said as she nodded. The capital was a beautiful place to live in, and to take a relaxation trip to as well, it was full of beautiful buildings that were almost on par with the ones back in Louise's own world and the atmosphere here was very pleasant as the people were friendly and they didn't seem to care that there was a war going on, maybe because they were so far away from the frontlines. Louise wondered what would be the feelings of those that were close to the frontlines, she had heard news that many of the villages and towns had been abandoned in favour of going to the capital where they hoped to find accommodation and some food instead of staying in their home and possibly getting killed. War was a cruel and tragic thing, something that Louise was now immersed in fully, as she swallowed her fear and continued onwards.

"Alexander!" Adriana exclaimed going to her son and hugging him, "It's so good to see you."

"Hello ma, how's things here?" Alexander asked.

"Well not as bad as one would expect though there are a few cases," Adriana said as she turned to Louise, "Louise look at you…I heard about the fighting in that town over there. Weren't you stationed there? Are you okay?"

"We're fine Miss Manos," Louise said, "yes you heard right, but no one got hurt, we're quite lucky to be precise."

"Well luck don't play a role in the battle that I can tell you," Adriana said, "what are you two doing here anyways? I haven't heard of anyone injured in squad 13."

"We had some time off to relax after our first battle, we thought we might visit you," Louise said.

"Oh that's sweet, but I don't have time to chit-chat, lots of wounded to take care of," Adriana said, "you might want to visit your pa Alexander. He's been meaning to talk to you about a, and I quote, 'damn fine tank worthy of the battlefield.'"

"Ok I'll check on him now," Alexander said, "see you later ma."

"Stay safe my boy," Adriana said hugging him as she then hugged Louise, "you too Louise."

"I'll make sure Alexander stays out of trouble," Louise said.

"Ha! Easier said then done," Adriana said with a laugh before leaving them as the two of them went to the metal workshops district where Louise thought she saw Alice running from a metal shop, but couldn't be sure as they went to the workshop. Inside there were rows and rows of tanks, weapons and everything else being either repaired, maintained or built as Louise saw a tank being assembled as ammos were loaded in while one engineer seemed to be testing a weapon as they went to the end of the workshop where Robert was fiddling with a tank.

"Hey pa what are you up to," Alexander said as Robert was taken by surprise as he bumped his head on the tank and cursed.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that ya know," Robert grumbled.

"Sorry, sorry," Alexander said.

"Well you two are looking good, heard about what happened with your squad, it's a miracle that you managed to snag that tank," Robert said, "you two didn't have anything to do with it did you?"

"Define 'anything to do with it'," Alexander said.

"As in you weren't responsible for actually going into the enemy camp and actually stealing the tank," Robert said as Alexander whistled innocently while Louise felt uncomfortable under his stare as he sighed, "you two really do get into all sorts of trouble…I'm sorry that we're pushing him in your care Louise."

"I-it's fine Mr Manos, I don't mind," Louise said with a smile, "I owe him, and your family, for taking me in when I didn't have a place to go."

"Haha! That was only one time," Robert said.

"Still I was a lost person in an unknown territory, and besides…I can't see who else would make a better friend then your son," Louise said as Alexander smiled as usual. "Now…let's talk about the tank you dragged in, I was talking to a girl whose in your squad name's Alice right?"

"Yeah Alice's the name," Alexander said, "she seemed pretty excited about the tank."

"Well it is a new model," Robert said, "pretty good armour, enough to take a decent amount of hits unlike our own medium tanks, and the machine gun's a new addition so that should be helpful. Overall it's a very good tank and a lucky find and snag."

"As long as we're allowed to keep it that is and the army doesn't take it," Louise remarked.

"I don't think they'll take it," Robert said, "if they did try to take it then the militia will kick up a huge fuss over this and they don't like dealing with that. However I was discussing with Alice about improvements we could make with the tank, though they are a bit costly in terms of price but I assure that they're well worth it."

"Oh? What kind of improvements? I thought a new model like this can't be improved on," Alexander said.

"Anything can always be improved whether it be a beat up old tank, or a new one like this, though for a new one like this it would more likely be prototypes and new technologies we developed," Robert said patting the tank.

"So basically we'll be guinea pigs for a prototype that might or might not work," Louise said bluntly.

"Well when you put it that way you make it sound we're the bad guys here," Robert said with a nervous chuckle as Louise glared at him apprehensively, "but in all seriousness I do think that the tanks could be worked on."

"Well that's nice to know, I'm sure Lieutenant Terry would like to see those improvements," Alexander said.

"Terry huh? Wouldn't happen to be General Ramond Terry's children would it?" Robert asked.

"We wouldn't know," Alexander said, "the Terry siblings kind of quiet on their family life."

"Hmm...is one of them a lazy, yet intelligent man?" Robert asked.

"Not sure about intelligent, but he is as lazy as a mule," Louise said, "he yawns everytime he opens his mouth."

"Yep that's him alright, yeah they're old Ramond's children...I've been wondering what they've been up to," Robert said.

"You knew their father?"

"I did, we were best friends in the militia, it was a shame though...killed just after his daughter was born...haven't heard of them since. Though the Terry are an influential military family, I was surprised that their children would be fighting since their mother was quite against any kind of conflict since her husband's death."

"Patrioism can do that to you," Louise said as she had met some over-zealous family who were 'proud' of their military background and always insisted to be involved in any kind of military operations or meeting. Those kinds of people were very annoying to deal with and Louise was thankful that her mother wasn't like that at all.

"Well you two are having your leave right? I suggest you go spend it somewhere else instead of you, don't waste what precious time you have on visiting your parents," Robert said.

"Ah pa sounds like you don't want us," Alexander said.

"I don't want _you_ specifically Alexander, you have the incredible talent of causing things to go wrong wherever you go," Robert said as Louise thought it was a bit harsh as she was taken aback at such words as Robert looked at Lousie with an apologetic face, "sorry but it's kind of true just ask Alexander."

"My pa is right," Alexander said when they got out of the workshop, "I can't tell you how many times I've actually broken something just by standing next to it, I'm a big klutz not to mention that I space out most of the time."

"But still that wasn't nice of him...parents shouldn't say that to their kids," Louise said as she turned away as another flashback of her life occured, her mother had never been mean to her per se, but she was a strict parent. It was a given considering her past as a soldier, but sometimes Louise wondered if her mother was ever proud of her, if she was happy that Louise was born...sometimes she wondered if her mother ever loved her.

"Is it another flashback of your life?" Alexander asked as Louise shook her head lightly, "you don't have to lie, it's okay if it is, I won't prod on it."

"But the other day on the battlefield, you didn't seem like a klutz to me at all," Louise said.

"How kind of you to say that," Alexander said with a smile, "but that's a secret that I'll tell you about one day. Why I have two different personas, now let's visit my dear sister shall we?" as the two of them then went to visit Alexander's sister. It turns out that she was actually a field commander, though one that was more in line with strategic movements and placement of troops, therefore she was stuck in the capital analysing everything. Robert had remarked that it was actually fitting for her to be there since she was more of a strategist then an actual soldier as Louise wondered if that was true. They knocked on her office before entering it as a tall woman wearing an officer's uniform stood at the back of a desk looking over a map as she turned to them.

"Oh Alexander!" she beamed going to her brother and hugging her, "I wasn't expecting you, how have you been?"

"As good as a militia soldier can be," Alexander replied as he then turned to Louise, "Louise meet my sister, Alexis Manos, Alexis meet Louise. She's the girl that ma and pa forced to protect me and keep me out of danger."

"T-they didn't force me," Louise said with a blush, "really they didn't."

"I'm sure they didn't," Alexis said with a smile, "well its nice to meet you Louise. I'm glad to see that my little brother finally has a woman that'll protect him, heaven knows that he gets into enough trouble back home."

"R-really," Louise said finding it very hard to believe that, back in that town Alexander was so calmed and composed that she could hardly see him as someone who gets into a lot of trouble back home, he didn't even act clumsy or anything like that. Was there an ulterior motive for him acting like this? She wanted to ask that question but then thought better of it, Alexander had wanted to ask about Louise's life in her old world and when she didn't want to talk about he wouldn't push it so shouldn't she do the same? Shouldn't she wait until Alexander was ready to talk about it? It sounded fair and was something a friend would do, "Well I'll just make sure he gets home in one piece," Louise said with a slight chuckle.

"Thank you, I really feel at ease now that I have someone reliable protecting Alexander," Alexis said, "so I heard that your squad did pretty well at that town the other day. I'm impressed, more impressed by Lieutenant's Terry's strategy...deception followed by a pincer attack...a pretty gutsy move."

"That's the lieutenant for you," Louise said with a slight chuckle unsure how to exactly praise her squad commander.

"He's just as much as his father," Alexis said.

"You knew his father?" Louise asked.

"Oh heavens no, I just heard stories that's all, apparently the old general was a good strategist as well. Used to run his enemies in rings before finishing them off, it was a pity he's gone...we could use him right about now," she said as she muttered the last part to herself.

"I'm sure the current generation will be capable enough," Alexander said optimistically.

"Yeah you're right," Alexis said, "say you two free? I'll treat you guys to lunch if you're up for it."

"Really? I-I mean are you sure?" Louise asked, it had been a while since she eaten food that wasn't a militia ration or food from the training facillity's cafeteria so to finally have the chance to eat something good was something Louise was not going to let go.

"Sure, I have time and money to spare," Alexis said as she locked all the confidential things up before then locking the door, "can't be too careful. This might be the capital, but spies are still all over the place, thank goodness I'm not dealing with that."

"Your father said you dealt with unit placement and all that, does this mean you'll choose where we're going to next?" Louise asked.

"Partially, I just recommend where a unit should go, but in the end it's up to the regimental and battalion leader where the unit goes," Alexis explained. Lunch was a somewhat casual affair as Adriana and Robert were too busy with their respective work to take the time to eat with their children, and so it was only the three of them. Louise had never enjoyed food like she had now, she had steak, fish and anything else that she could think of and still had room for; she knew that she shouldn't splurge like this, but it was so hard to contain herself. Eventually she stuffed herself full as she could hardly move after that as she groaned, "Looks like you enjoyed dinner," Alexis said with a smile.

"Sorry about that," Louise said, "I should've held myself back."

"Don't worry, I heard the soldiers complain how bad the ration is, you should see what some of the soldiers do as soon as they arrive here, they practically eat themselves out sick and trust me the aftermath is not pretty," Alexis said.

"Well I think that's gonna be me," Louise groaned, she felt that her stomach was going to explode from all the food that's stuffed in her.

"Don't worry it seemed you do need the food, you're quite short for your age aren't you?" Alexis remarked.

Louise groaned not even bothering with a response with that one, she had always been bullied because of her height as well as her inability to use magic; it was always one of those two. It wasn't her fault that she was shorter then most girls her age, nor was it her fault that she was unable to use even the simplest of magic. Why was it that none of them understood that she just wanted to become the best mage she could be and make her family proud? Why was it so hard for them to understand that? Louise then pushed that out of her mind, she couldn't concentrate on the past now they were that: the past. She needed to concentrate on the future and make sure that she survived this war, after that...after that she'll see where the road leads on...maybe she'll wander around this new world or perhaps she'll join the army though she hardly doubt she would want to join the army. She was having a hard enough time serving with the militia.

"Well I have to go back to the office, I have meeting with the chief of staff," Alexis said, "you two stay safe alright? Enjoy the time you have in the capital while you can, you never know when you might be called back into duty."

"Sure thing sis," Alexander said, "you stay safe too."

"Who me?" Alexis asked with a chuckle, "Please I much rather be on the field then sitting behind a desk, it can get terribly boring you know?" before leaving them.

"Urgh...I didn't think that mash potato sat well with me," Louise said as the two of them then went to another part of the capital with Louise regretting splurging on all that food.

"Well it's good experience for you, now you know what _not_ to do the next time we get some leave," Alexander said.

"How did you manage to hold yourself back?" Lousie asked.

"Oh I didn't I just have a naturally higher stamina," Alexander replied as Louise had felt slightly annoyed at him.

"Don't make me hit you," Louise said.

"You wouldn't."

"You never know."

"I know you won't, you're too kind."

"Isn't that bad as a soldier?"

"Too kind to me that is."

"You're annoying sometimes you know?" Louise said as Alexander laughed as they saw Alicia came out of a botique shop with a large amount of shopping bags in her hand as Louise sweatdropped _We're in the middle of a war and she's shopping? Scratch that where did she even get the money from? _Louise thought to herself as she then saw Alicia get into a carriage before driving away, "Must be nice to be so carefree like that," Louise commented.

"Well she is going to be an actress once the war is over, perhaps she's getting ready for her role?" Alexander suggested.

"I very much doubt that," Louise said as they passed a shop which catered to military soldiers as she stopped for a moment and looked inside of it, there were all sorts of clothes inside and there were many people inside as well. She wondered if this was where Alicia went before, maybe she's buying clothes for the battlefield though that didn't seem like the Alicia that Louise knew, and why would she buy so many clothes in the first place as well? However Louise herself was curious about the shop and what lay inside of it.

"Want to go in?" Alexander asked as Louise looked at him.

"Huh? Pardon?" Louise asked not hearing Alexander the first time.

"I asked if you wanted to go in, you were looking inside the shop quite intently, is there something that you wish to buy?" Alexander said.

"N-no of course not," Louise said, "I wouldn't be caught dead wearing any clothes from there...though..."

"Well the clothes here _are_ designed for military soldiers and officers, including those in the militia, so I'm sure we'll be able to find something that suits you," Alexander said.

"Well...perhaps I am curious," Louise said as Alexander merely smiled as they entered the store, inside soft music was playing while the soft murmurs of people talking to each other or the store clerks quietly. There were all sorts of clothes ranging from military uniforms and boots, to cloaks, accessories that held bullets and other things, as well as things that Louise would consider 'normal' such as scarves and hats. However the material were all coarse and rough mirroring the environment that they would be brought into and Louise would certainly not wear it in public, well perhaps one of the nicer ones but not the majority of them.

"This is quite good," Alexander commented, "the materials aren't too rough so they're quite smooth to touch but yet tough, no wonder this shop is popular with the military personals."

"Well I suppose you're right," Louise remarked as her eyes then caught the sight of a green and brown scarf, it was patterned and was long enough that it would reach her waist if it was curled up correctly, but was aesthetically pleasing at the same time. It looked really pretty and Louise was actually quite interested in it, but then she saw the price and thought against it, she hardly had any money in this world and most of everything came from the good graces of Alexander. Surely she couldn't ask him to lend her money to buy a scarf? It would be selfish of her as she then felt the scarf on her as she looked at Alexander.

"You look good in that scarf," he said softly as Louise blushed at it.

"Thanks, however it's a little bit above my pay and besides…I can hardly ask you to pay for it right? I mean…it's a little bit expensive," Louise remarked as Alexander looked at her with a bemused look on his face.

"You're right," he said as Louise smiled at him, it was a shame since she did want it but she had to consider Alexander's feelings as well. By the time that they finished looking around the shop, and others just like it, it was already night time as Alexander looked at the sky. "My it's already this late? I suppose we better get back to our barracks, no doubt the others are already there as well," he said.

"Y-yeah," Louise said, "let's get over there, I don't wanna have to get the last piece of all the food there."

"I don't think the militia would allow that to happen in the capital, on the field perhaps, but not here," Alexander said as the two of them walked towards the militia barracks where they would spend their nights there in case they needed to move out immediately in an emergency. "Uhm...Louise," Alexander said as she turned to him, "back at the shop...I noticed that you were looking at the scarf real intently...did you want to buy it?"

"Huh? N-no of course not!" Louise exclaimed, "I just thought that it was really pretty that's all."

"Oh really?" Alexander said with a soft smile, "Well then...close your eyes Louise," as Louise looked at him blankly, "just trust me," as she looked at him apprehensively.

"You're not...going to do anything to me...right?" Louise asked point blank as Alexander nearly face vaulted at the utter directness of that statement.

"N-no of course not, I'm an innocent boy," Alexander said with a chuckle as Louise sighed and closed her eyes as he then unwrapped something before putting around her neck, "you can open your eyes now," he said as Louise opened her eyes and felt it as she gasped. It was the same scarf that she saw back in the shop, complete with the patterns, now upon touching it she felt the lightness of it and how soft it felt and not too coarse as her hands danced around the material. "It's a pretty good scarf was what the clerk told me, quite a rare find in fact and it's made of a material that's not too coarse, but durable enough for combat...I thought you might like it...it certainly suits you Louise as I said before," as the girl blushed lightly at that comment.

"Alexander I...I don't know what to say," Louise said.

"You don't need to say anything, just think of it as a present, as a way for me to say thanks to you for always protecting me and keeping your promise with my parents," Alexander said with a smile as he then continued to walk forward as Louise admired her scarf, "come on Louise don't dawdle or else we won't get any food."

"C-coming!" Louise cried out as she caught up with Alexander as she glanced at him and smiled. Thus three months after Louise arrived, three months after she became a soldier and fight for her survival, a boy gave her a cherished present.


	7. Chapter 6: River Barton

**Hello everyone, here's the 6th chapter. Going good so far, thanks to everyone who's followed, faved and reviewed the story. I'm always happy to see them in my inbox. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

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"Alright listen up guys, we're going to have a new member in our squad from now on," Mason said with his trademark tired face and yawn, it had been exactly two days since they were allowed on leave. They had taken each day and moment with seriousness, as they wouldn't know when their leave would be over and by the sounds of it that day had come. "She's a new recruit just fresh out of training, so make sure you show her the ropes and show it how it's done…you know the usual routine," Mason continued.

"I wonder who the new recruit's gonna be like?" Alicia wondered out loud, "Better not try to take my spotlight."

"I didn't know you had a spotlight," Louise remarked as she fingered the scarf, ever since Alexander had given her that scarf she had not let go of it or taken it off except for showers and even then she made sure that it was plenty safe. She knew that the squad would never steal from each other, they were almost like family now and Daniel was more than happy to safeguard Louise's scarf though he had a smile on his face that Louise was sure meant he was misinterpreting the reason for such a thing. Naturally Alicia was adamant and 'sure' that this was a sign that the two of them were dating though Louise would persist in telling them that it was simply a gift of thanks for helping Alexander out while the war was on.

"Of course I do, I am a rising star after all," Alicia remarked, "what kind of actress doesn't have a spotlight? And it should always be centred on me~"

"We call such people narcissistic people you know?" Louise replied as Alicia growled lightly.

"Alright then without further ado I'll let her introduce herself to you all," as a blonde girl with green eyes stepped in front of them, she couldn't have been taller than Louise as she had a nervous look on her face as the other squad members began commenting on her.

"H-hello everyone I'm S-Suzie Rose, it's a pleasure to meet you all," she said with a nervous smile. There was a bit of silence as no one spoke at all, however Louise could see that Suzie was no ordinary person. The way she spoke, stood and composed herself…it reminded her all too clearly of the way the nobles spoke and stood, was this girl a daughter from nobility? She sure didn't act like one as she expected someone from nobility to be more…haughty and arrogant, much like how she had been before she came here. Perhaps the basic training kicked that out of Suzie much like how it did for Louise? But Louise could see some sort of fear in Suzie's eyes, she didn't know why but it almost seemed that Suzie would rather be anywhere but here.

After Suzie introduced herself she then went and sat at the farthest corner of the room, well away from anyone as Louise glanced at her for a moment before directing herself back to the screen as Mason came on. "Now that's over let's get to business," as he pulled down a map of a city it looks like named 'Barton', "we've received word that the Confederacy has set up a forward base in the city of Barton. The city fell exactly a week ago and despite the army's best effort to retake the city they have not been successful so far, therefore we along with the 7th and 3rd militia squad are to join with the 3rd battalion to retake the city."

"Hold on if the army failed to take it, then what makes them think we'll be able to retake the city?" Alicia asked.

"That…" Mason said, "I have no idea," as the squad protested, "but it's orders from the top so we can hardly ignore it can we?" as the protests stop. "However we believe that if we launch a surprise attack then the Confederacy would be caught off guard allowing the other units to launch an attack to drive them out of the city. And of course the task of the sneak attack belongs to us," as more protests began, "but as always I have a plan."

"The last plan involved a secondary sneak attack…don't tell me you're going to use the same one," Luna remarked as Mason opened his mouth before closing it.

"Of course not," he said as the squad sweatdropped _He was definitely going to use a secondary sneak attack_ was what they were all thinking. "I plan on using the river as a source of attack," as Louise could see that there was indeed a river running to the side of the city, "the river used to be a place where merchant boats could dock and unload their wares. This time it's going to unload us, we plan on using the boats to bypass all of their defences and have us then launch the attack on a supply base. Once their supply base is destroyed and taken the rest will fall like dominos," as the squad murmured their assent, "any questions? No? Ok then let's get to it guys, we leave in five hours so get ready and say your goodbyes," as the squad dispersed for the moment.

"So I suppose you'll be saying goodbye to your parents and sister right?" Louise said as Alexander nodded.

"Y-yes I am," Alexander said.

"Well I think I'll let you go there yourself, I mean it is a private thing after all," Louise said as Alexander looked unsure, "look seriously don't worry about me I'll be plenty fine."

"If you insist," Alexander said before he left the room leaving only Louise and Suzie alone in the room as the new girl stood up and walked out of the door as Louise caught up to her.

"Hi, you're Suzie right?" Louise asked as the girl looked at her.

"Y-yes that's right," Suzie replied.

"I'm Louise Valliere, it's nice to meet you," Louise said as Suzie smiled politely at her.

"Nice to meet you too Louise," Suzie said, "you're...quite young to be in the militia aren't you?"

"Haha really? I'm only 16 so I guess I'm the youngest squad member around here," Louise said with a chuckle.

"Eh? You're 16...you're older then me," Suzie said as Louise looked at her in surprise, "I'm 15 years old."

"Wah~ you're even younger then me? How could the military allow that?" Louise asked.

"The minimum age for the conscription is 15, so since I just turned 15 a couple months ago I had to sign up for the militia," Suzie said.

"Really? That sounds like a strange policy," Louise remarked.

"I suppose so," Suzie replied, "so...have you been...in any battles?" she asked nervously.

"Just one," Louise said, "you may have heard of it, squad 13 repelling back the Confederacy while snagging a tank along with it?" as Suzie nodded, "I was involved in that operation, in fact I was the one that was part of the team that took the tank."

"Wow really? That must have been scary," Suzie said.

"It was the most frightening moment of my life," Louis deadpanned as she had flashbacks of her getting shot at while the tank drove away, of course that didn't happen but it didn't stop the 'what-if' daydreams afterwards.

"I-I'm sorry...I must have brought up something bad..." Suzie said.

"Oh no, no you're quite fine," Louise said.

"I hope I can be like you, or anyone else in the squad for that matter," Suzie said fearfully, "I hope I survive this war..."

"Don't worry Suzie, we all take care of each other," Louise said reassuringly, "say if you don't mind telling me what did you do before you signed up for the militia?"

Huh? Oh I..." Suzie said as she looked away and the pain in her eyes were reflected in it as Louise confirmed that there was something more to Suzie then she was telling them, "not much...I was just a simple girl that's all," Suzie said with a smile. Louise noted that the smile was the same smile that Louise used to give to her teachers when they asked her if anything was wrong, she would give it so that they wouldn't worry over them even though it hurt her inside not tell anyone what was going on. She did to protect herself, to make herself feel strong even when she felt weak and vulnerable. Suzie...just what is your reason for joining the militia? Louise thought to herself.

"Uhm Louise...do you know where I can get my weapons? I haven't really been shown the way there," Suzie said interrupting Louise's thought.

"Sure it's right this way," Louise said as the two of them talked other trivial topics before they were sent off to Barton.

_River Barton, 3 hours later_

"Hey I just thought of something," Alicia said as the squad was on a barge heading towards the Barton docks, they had been quiet throughout the entire trip not wanting to tip off the enemy that they were here. Even the tank, which they dubbed Falcon, was turned off though it was ready to roar to life at a moment's notice as Mason and Alice were inside; as Mason had done an armoured division training course in military school and Alice was designated as the Falcon's driver because of her familiarity with it. "How do we know that the Confederacy won't be guarding the docks?" Alicia asked.

"We don't," Mason admitted, "they could be guarding the docks, but they're still fighting off the 3rd battalion and the other militia squads. And also intelligence confirms that the rear base supply's defences are inadequately weak so we can assume that they're not expecting an attack from the rear."

"Oi, oi you mean we could be walking right into an ambush?" Adrian asked, "Are you kidding me?"

"Well it's too late to turn back now," Mason said with a yawn, "and besides we have the Falcon here...everything will be alright."

"I wonder about that," Adrian muttered to himself as the landing party made it to the dock, there were signs of what was once a bustling area as boats were bopping up and down silently while fishing next and cargos laid all over the place. There wasn't even a single sign that a violent takeover occurred here as the squad looked around nervously as the tank drove out of the barge and onto the docks as Mason's head popped out of the hatch.

"Alright the supply base is just straight ahead, I want three teams for this. Two teams to flank their sides and one for a direct assault, basically a three-pronged attack, we don't know whether they have armour here but I'm guessing that they do so there should at least be one anti-tank soldier in each team," Mason explained, "so sort it out and tell me when everyone's ready," as he then popped back into the tank.

"Oi, oi..." Daniel said as he sighed, "what a troublesome commander."

"I'm so sorry for my brother," Luna said embarrassingly as Daniel patted her.

"That's fine, we're kind of use to it by now," Daniel said as he and Luna sorted out the teams as, naturally Alexander and Louise were together again with team 2 who would be part of the direct assault along with Daniel and Suzie with the Falcon leading the charge. While Alicia would be leading team 1 to flank its left and Luna leading the 3rd team in flanking its right side; with the teams sorted out and a plan in mind they began the operation as team 2 followed the Falcon through the ruined city as their eyes were on the alert for any sign of enemies waiting for them. The entire was quiet, penetrated only the distant rumblings of tanks firing and the rat-tat-tat of machine gun fire, it made Louise nervous since she was going to directly assault the base to draw the enemy fire as she bit back the fear building up in her. However Suzie was positively pale as she was shaking all over the place and even the smallest sound would make her yelp in surprise as she gripped her rifle tightly as she stuck close to the Falcon.

As they approached the base Louise could hear the soft rumblings of an engine indicating that there were tanks here as she took a deep breath to calm herself down, Daniel was here as well as other anti-tank soldiers so she felt confident that they were safe from them. Then there was the soft sound of metal hitting the ground before a loud explosion knocked Louise to the ground, "They're onto us!" one of the squad member said before the sounds of guns firing echoed around the area as Louise's training kicked in, she went to a nearby rubble and took cover there as she peeked over it to get a better idea of what was going on, several of the Confederacy soldiers were firing back at them as the Falcon used its machine gun to suppress the enemy while the squad retaliated back. Alexander was across from her as he fired off shot after shot at the enemy as more troops poured in, the plan seemed to be working as more troops were moving in to attack the team as Louise took two soldiers down though whether it was a fatal shot or not she would much rather not think about it, "Tank!" as Louise popped her head to see a tank rolling towards them. It was smaller than the Falcon so it was likely a light tank, but it still posed a threat as it fired its cannon at the Falcon as it missed and hit a building behind Louise as the shockwave pushed her to the ground before she scrambled up and ran to another cover.

Daniel popped out of his cover as he aimed his anti-tank weapon at it as he positioned himself despite the onslaught of bullets that were peppering him, Louise had to admire his bravery for not ducking under enemy cover as he then fired as a trail of smoke left the weapon before the load smashed into the tank as it exploded into a fiery fireball. Louise covered her eyes from the explosion as it also seemed to have knocked back some of the soldiers out as well as the squad moved in further to pressure the enemy forces, "Hey wait..." Louise said pulling Alexander back, "where's Suzie?" she asked as she did not see the girl anywhere at all as she frantically looked around hoping that the girl wasn't wounded as her heart hammered against her chest.

"I-I don't know, I lost her when the tank came and fired, are you okay by the way?" Alexander asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, where's Suzie?" Louise asked as she looked around panickingly.

"Worry about yourself first," Daniel said as he slid to their side as he covered himself, "I'm sure she's fine," as the sound of further gunfire and explosions followed by soldiers running from the side indicated that the enemy had been caught off guard. The tactic had worked! As the teams rejoiced as they pressed on the attack as the Confederacy soldiers fell back into the base itself as squad 13 penetrated into the base as they shot at anything that moved.

"Keep pushing them back, drive them out of the base completely," Luna ordered as the squad members redoubled their efforts as Louise fired at a Confederacy soldier as he fell back in pain as his comrade dragged him away as slowly, but surely, Mason's plan seemed to look like a success. At least that is until several tanks rolled in firing their cannons as explosions rocked the base.

"Damn it tanks? And five of them?" Luna exclaimed.

"All of you aim properly, protect the squad," Daniel said as he fired at the tanks, however their rockets were inaccurate at a distance and so only few hit their mark and it wasn't enough to destroy the tanks. They couldn't move further because the Confederacy infantry were continually aiming at the anti-tank soldiers as they seemed intent on protecting the tank at any cost, "damn it...at this rate enemy reinforcements will arrive," as he turned to the Falcon, "Lieutenant we need your help!" he cried out.

Inside the Falcon Mason seemed his usual lazy self as he looked at Alice as she was the only one could see what was happening, "Lieutenant the squad needs our help, should we arm the anti-armour shells?" Alice asked.

"Is it bad?" Mason asked.

"Yes five tanks are right in front of us and they're shelling our squad, Lieutenant we need to help them now!" Alice said, "Even if our tank cannons don't have the reach, at least we should cover the anti-tank units so that they can shoot at the tanks."

"Well then we'll get hit and suffer damage," Mason said as Alice looked at him in aghast.

"Lieutenant!" she exclaimed in shock.

"Calm down, I was just joking, listen to my orders carefully," as the Falcon then lurched forward as it rolled towards the tanks as it shrugged off the small arms easily as it then turned so that it's sides were facing the tank.

"What is he doing?" Luna asked, "Doesn't he know that tank armour are thin on the side?"

The Falcon then fired its cannon as its first shell hit spot on as the tank exploded and the subsequent shockwave damaged the tank next to it as well, "Well come on don't just stand there," Luna said seeing the squad just sitting there in dumbfound surprise, "aid the Falcon," as the anti-tank units, using the Falcon as cover began barraging the remaining tanks with rockets as they exploded one after the other as the Falcon aided them as best it could. Seeing that their armoured division was wiped out the rest of the Confederacy defence force retreated as the rest of the squad cleared out the buildings before flying the Belfast flag over the supply base and then firing a flare, a sign to the forces outside the city that they had captured the supply base which would signal them to attack the city defence force with earnest.

"Finally it's over," Louise said as she tightened the scarf around her neck, "I thought we weren't going to make it for a moment."

"Well I guess my brother can be reliable when he wants to be," Luna said as Louise nodded, "you two okay?"

"Yeah I'm good," Louise said as Alexander nodded as she then remembered something, "Suzie! I have to find her, she wasn't at the assault just then I-"

"Yeah I found her," Luna said as Louise's heart dropped, "she's..."

"No...she's not..." Louise said as a cold chill came over her body.

"No, no she's not killed but..." Luna said as she gestured to her as Louise sighed in relief though she could see that Suzie went from pale to ashen white as she shuddered while hugging her knee as she looked ready to crumble. "The guys found her hiding away in one of the buildings, it seemed she chickened out during the fight and just sat there while we were fighting," Luna said as Louise detected a hint of anger in her voice.

"Well it was her first fight," Louise argued, "of course she would be frightened and with the tanks rolling by even I was a little bit scared."

"But at least you didn't freeze up right? You kept on fighting!" Luna snapped as Louise looked at her in surprise, why was Luna acting this way? Sure she was a bit tough on the others because of her position as second-in-command, but she had always been understanding of other people...what was it that made her act this way?

"Luna you..." Louise began.

"If a soldier freezes up in a battle then he, or she, is just a useless waste of space. That is the tenant of war, that's why we...we have to steel ourselves for the battles ahead. If this was a major operation and she was in charge of a crucial role then she jeopardizes the entire mission as well as our lives. Suzie should get her act together because the next battle is going to be just, if not more, tougher since we have to hold this supply base until reinforcements can arrive," as Luna left Louise in a state of shock as Alexander sympathised with Louise.

"I understand how you feel Louise," Alexander said, "however I think you should understand how the Belfast military philosophy works. All of us were taught from a young age to be proud of our country and to fight and die for it when the time comes, cowardice is something that highly looked down upon and those that aren't able to fight or do anything useful to a war effort is considered an embarrassment," he explained softly. Louise's eyes widened, then their philosophy was no different than the one back home where a person who was unable to summon a familiar or cast a simple spell was considered an embarrassment as a mage and was shunned by the magical community, Louise herself had felt that stigma and knew first-hand how it felt to be an outcast; already she could feel the disapproving glare directed towards Suzie as she gritted her teeth in anger. It infuriated her that even in this world such discrimination existed, it infuriated her that another person had to undergo the same thing that Louise went through, it infuriated her so much that she just wanted nothing more than to send them all flying with her magic. However doing that would achieve nothing and just open up a whole lot of questions she would rather remain unanswered, or questioned, for this moment in time as she decided to prove them wrong.

"Come on Louise, I'm not going to act like this to her, it's wrong and stupid," Louise announced as Alexander sighed and smiled.

"Alright then, it's not like I can't decline it could I?" Alexander said.

"You could...but don't expect me to help you the next time you're under fire," Louise said warningly as Alexander laughed nervously as the two of them approached Suzie who was muttering under her breath and was quite frankly in a state of disbelief.

"Hey Suzie...Suzie you okay?" Louise asked softly as she didn't get any sign of response as she called again before touching Suzie's shoulder. The reaction was immediate as Suzie pushed Louise away before pointing her rifle at Louise as Alexander stepped in as Suzie snapped out of it as she dropped the rifle before collapsing to the ground.

"I'm sorry," Suzie sobbed, "I'm sorry," as she kept apologising as Louise slowly embraced her after she got over the shock of nearly getting shot.

"It's okay," Louise replied, "it's okay you're safe now."

"I...I wanted to fight," Suzie said, "I had him in my sight but...but I couldn't...oh god I couldn't kill him in cold blood..."

"I know, I understand," Louise said, "it's hard for me as well...to suddenly be asked to kill someone simply because they're the enemy...don't worry, I'm not angry at you. I won't let anyone else bully you I promise you that."

"R-really?" Suzie asked, "You mean that?"

"Of course," Louise said smiling, "from now on you, me and Alexander are friends, comrade-in-arms!"

"Ah...dragging my name into this...how troublesome," Alexander said to himself.

"What was that?" Louise snapped glaring at him.

"Nothing, nothing!" Alexander said laughing nervously again.

"T-thank you Louise...I...I don't deserve such kindness," Suzie said sniffling.

"Think nothing of it," Louise said, "for something like this to occur...unforgivable..." as she balled her hands into a fist as she swore she won't let Suzie suffer the same pain she did when she was in the academy, she swore it on her life!


	8. Chapter 7: The Battle for Barton

**Hi everyone thank you for waiting. Here is the new chapter, it's a little long because I combined two separate chapters into one but I hope you enjoy it. Now for a question regarding the technology used. Yes that is correct, the technology used is similar to the ones used in World War 2, however in saying that I will be adding a few surprises along the way so stay tuned for that. Now that's sorted out hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

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There was no rest for the squad after they had taken the supply base, their celebration was short lived when they had to prepare for the imminent counter-attack that would no doubt be happening. Now with the Belfast forces hammering the defence forces the Confederacy would want that supply base more then ever and the squad could certainly not give it back to them. Therefore defences were put up as the engineers were busy repairing the defensive structures while also at the same time putting out mines to slow down the attackers, their main focus would not be on wiping out the attackers but holding out long enough for reinforcements to arrive. However the atmosphere around the supply base was tense, not because of the upcoming assault, but also because of what happened with Suzie.

It was clear what the squad thought about her as they ignored her and gave her cold looks as Louise continued to fume over the injustice of this as Alexander seemed confused about what to do. Louise knew that this was a different world, but for this kind of discrimination to occur and in the middle of a battlefield? Were they going to abandon her as well if they had to retreat? Well if it came to that she would personally drag Suzie out of the battlefield herself if she had to as Luna continued giving orders to the other members as Daniel sighed as he apologised to Louise, "I know how you feel Louise," he said when he got some time to speak briefly, "I'm a little bit annoyed at the immaturity of these people. But that's how it is, just try to help out and make sure Suzie's safe, I'll make sure as well," he said as Louise smiled at him; at least there was someone who had a brain in their head.

"Sorry Louise...you have better things to do then take care of me," Suzie said.

"Don't talk like that," Louise said, "you have nothing to apologise for. What you did was perfectly natural for someone who's on the battlefield for the first time, don't worry Suzie, I'll guarantee you that I'll make sure you come out of this safe and sound."

"You don't need to go-" Suzie began.

"Really don't," Louise said warningly though playfully as she patted her head, "I'm gonna go see if there's anything I can do. Just sit here and try not to think too much about what's happening," as she went to Alice to see if there was anything she could do to help, along the way she passed Luna who glanced at her briefly before going back to what she was doing. Louise wondered if she should just give a good talking to the sergeant, or wait until this whole mess is over before going to her, she opted for the latter option as she didn't have time for an argument.

She helped Alice set up the minefield, since there was only one path to the supply base making it that much easier to defend the supply base, naturally they also covered their rear just in case the Confederacy had the bright idea of using the same tactic that they just used. It would be quite silly if they were soundly beaten because they fell for the tactic they _just _used right?

"Alright that's everything," Alice said as she wiped her forehead as the two of them headed to base, "hopefully that's enough to slow them down till help arrives. Shouldn't take that long."

"Yeah let's hope," Louise said distractedly as she continued to look at Suzie now and again, the girl had somewhat recovered though she could still see Suzie pacing up and down the spot trying to calm herself down.

"You know...you should be careful of what you do," Alice said worringly.

"Don't you start as well," Louise muttered.

"No, no I'm not saying I agree...in fact there's research that states the philosophy of never showing cowardice has lost its appeal to the younger generation. But for the older ones, and ones from military families like Luna, the policy is still rock solid in their minds. I'm just saying you should be careful in case they start to hassle you because of you showing kindness to Suzie."

"Oh so now it's wrong to show kindness to a comrade?" Louise snapped.

"Hey don't snap at me," Alice said defensively as Louise looked away from her in shame, she shouldn't snap at Alice when she was just trying to help her, but she just couldn't stop feeling so angry at everyone else for being unfair to Suzie. "It's just...it's the supposed mindset that one shouldn't associate themselves with a coward, you know like we learned at school."

_Of course...they would learn about this when they're at school, so they were already brainwashed into believing this drivel...how pathetic_ Louise thought to herself as she nodded absentmindedly. Alice didn't know about Louise's situation, only Alexander did and she wanted it to stay that way. "I'll keep that in mind," Louise said as she walked away from Alice as the scouting party that Mason sent out returned and reported that a group of Confederacy soldiers were coming their way as the squad got ready for the fight of their life.

"Alright you know what to do everyone, hold the line until reinforcement arrives," Luna said, "don't let them come into the base, brother I'm counting on you," Luna said as her face then fell as she saw the cold eyes that Mason bore into her as Luna was completely taken aback by this, "b-brother?" Mason did not respond as he simply went back into the tank as Louise looked at Alexander and shrugged. What could have caused the usually flippant and lazy squad commander to bear such cold eyes to his own sister? Luna was visibly affected by it as she gripped her machine gun tighter, but then resumed her usual self as she pushed that out of her mind.

The squad prepared themselves for the onslaught of gun fire that would be raining down on them as Louise grabbed her rifle as she looked at Suzie, "Stay out of this fight Suzie, it's going to get rough," she said.

"No I-I'll fight this time, I can do this," Suzie said.

"Don't push yourself, it'll make me sad if something happened to you," Louise said with a soft smile as Suzie looked down, "hide behind one of the buildings."

"L-Louise..." Suzie said grabbing her arm, "please...stay safe."

"Of course I will," Louise said, "I'm Louise Valliere, I can't die yet," she said _not until I come back home at least_ she thought to herself. She then went to one of the sandbags and hid there while snipers were on the towers relaying back information since they were the ones that would be able to see everything clearly depending whether the towers remained standing or not. Alexander was next to Louise as he took deep breaths before taking a peek over the sandbags.

"You think this will work out alright?" he asked.

"Well I guess we'll just have to see," Louise said as the squad waited for the awaited explosion that would indicate that the minefield was working and that the enemy forces would be slowed down. It wouldn't be enough to completely stall them, but enough to allow time for the allied forces to get to them. Sure enough an explosion echoed before the enemies began crying out for them to fall back as the squad popped out of their cover as they began to fire back at the enemy troops as the Confederacy were forced to cover themselves as they couldn't move forward because of the mine field.

Their engineers then moved forward to disarm the mines, but they were taken out by the snipers as they were forced to retreat back again as their commander yelled something at them before grabbing a radio. "Well the mines seemed to be doing their jobs," Louise remarked as a medium came rolling in, "that's...not good..." Louise said as the tank began their barrage as their shells bombarded the supply base as Louise had to take cover before her position was shelled. "Damn it how are we supposed to fight against a medium tank?"

"Don't worry the anti-tank mines should take care of it," one of the engineers said, "and if that doesn't do it then the proximity charge should blow it up to pieces," as the mines exploded underneath the tank but it kept on going. "What! How? That should have immobilized the tank!" the engineer exclaimed.

The medium tank then turned it cannon towards a garrison where Luna and other soldiers were before firing it on it, "No!" Louise cried out as the building burst into pieces before the Belfast soldiers came out retreating away from the building as Louise couldn't see Luna anywhere as she grabbed Alicia as she ran past, "Where's Luna?"

"I don't know!" Alicia yelled, "The last I saw her she was somewhere at the top level shooting at the Confederacy, I don't know if she made it down or not in time."

"Damn it," Louise hissed as she licked her lips before making a decision, as much as she disliked the girl for treating Suzie that way, she couldn't afford to lose their second-in-command. Besides Luna was a great leader and if she got past the 'no cowardice' policy then she'll become exceptional and Louise wanted to see how far she would go. However the building was badly damaged and Confederacy soldiers were marching past it, certain that there were no more survivors.

"Ah crap!" one of the engineers screamed, "Sergeant Terry had the proximity charge detonator! Without that we can't fire the charge off," as the medium tank inched closer towards the supply base as Louise made her split-second decision.

"Alexander, stay safe and don't get shot," she told Alexander before she scrambled up before running full speed towards the ruined building, dodging bullets as she did so as the other squad members called out to her. She managed to get there without getting shot, though she didn't rest on that as she immediately called out for Luna as she ran up the stairs, "Luna answer me! Damn it Luna!"

She then heard whimpering coming from one of the room as Louise peeked into it as her eyes widened at what she saw. The brave sergeant was at the corner of a room seemingly the same state Suzie was as her machine gun laid next to her as she kept muttering something to herself while shaking her head, "Luna...Sergeant?" Louise called out going to her as she grabbed the girl's shoulder, "Come on we gotta get out of here! Where's the proximity charge?"

"Don't wanna die...don't wanna die..." Luna muttered oblivious to Louise's words as Louise shook her harder, "don't wanna die like papa..."

"Papa?" Louise questioned before shaking her head, "Snap out of it Luna, we need that detonator, where is it? Without it everyone's gonna be slaughtered."

"Slaughtered?" Luna asked as a little bit of light burned in her before dimming, "Then maybe I can escape...I can get out of here...before they come and get me."

"Are you serious? You're going to abandon everyone? Me, Suzie, Alice, your brother?" Louise asked in complete shock, what was with this girl? She was feeling really angry now as she shook her harder then she would usually do, "Get it together, you say that cowardiance is looked down upon, well guess what? You're a coward if you're going to run away while your squad needs you. Is that what you want?"

"Y-you're right," Luna said as she seemed to have snapped out of it, "gotta...gotta keep fighting, where's my machine gun?" as Louise gave it to her as she took the detonator out of her pocket. Louise grabbed that as well before checking out the window to see the progress of the tank, it was literally sitting on top of it as she pushed the button down, a massive exploision then rocked the entire battlefield as the tank was consumed by an inferno along with any unlucky infantry around it as Louise was knocked to her ass as she winced in pain.

Luna yelped in fear as she shook from head to toe, "W-what now?" Luna asked.

"Now we get out of here," Louise said, "geez...what is with you? It's like you have multiple personalities..." she muttered to herself as she and Luna went out of the room and she quickly went to the exit as a group of Confederacy soldiers confronted them.

"There they are! Kill them!" as bullets flew again as she and Luna hid behind a table as Louise popped up and fired back while Luna seemed to have a complete breakdown as she refused to even fire.

"Come on Luna, don't be a damn coward! Fight!" Louise said as she hated to use the word 'coward', but it seemed to be the only way to get Luna to do anything, she really need to talk to Mason after all of this was over. As more soldiers came into the ruined building as the table was soon nothing more then splinters as Louise cursed and was forced to retreat deeper into the building, but not before covering their escape through a smoke grenade. Their chance of returning back to the base was slim and their only hope was to hold out until reinforcements arrived, or the Confederacy retreated. "Come on we gotta hide," Louise said. As the two of them ran down the corridor as Louise found to her despair that most of the doors were locked, and the Confederacy soldiers were searching for them as they finally found one.

But then Luna did the unthinkable, whether it was from madness from the pressure of war, an instinct to survive, or whatever it was. Luna pushed Louise away before going inside the door and locking the door leaving Louise behind as Louise gaped in shock, "H-hey! Luna! Are you crazy? Open the door!" she screamed banging on the door. Short of shooting the door down Louise didn't see how else she could get the door opened, she couldn't believe that Luna would sacrifice her and give her to the wolves! "Damn it Luna!" she exclaimed as the Confederacy soldiers rounded up the corner as she cursed, it seemed to be the end of her: there were no way out, no other doors and she certainly couldn't blow her way through them as the clicks of machine guns and rifles echoed in the otherwise silent corridor as she cursed herself. _Just my luck...to die in a war...sorry everyone...I guess this is the end...I only wished I could have seen my home one last time..._ Louise thought as she closed her eyes and awaited the inevitable. Then the sound of a grenade exploding followed by a short burst of machine gun fire accompanied the silence as Louise opened her eyes and was surprised to see Alexander, Alicia and Daniel there as they ran up to her.

"Louise are you alright?" Alexander asked.

"Y-yeah, what are you guys doing here? Why aren't you guarding the supply base?" Louise asked she wasn't ungrateful for them rescuing her, but if the supply base fell then all of this would have been for naught.

"It's over," Alicia said, "reinforcements arrived in the nick of time," as she winked.

"Where's Luna? Is she alright?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah she's alright, she's in there," Louise said a little coldly, "damn coward locked me out."

"W-what!" Daniel exclaimed in shock as Alicia gasped in horror, however Alexander looked furious an emotion that Louise had never seen in him before, he was usually so calm and collected, as he practically shot the door down before bursting inside, "Alexander wait!" Daniel said before Alexander then smashed the butt of his rifle on her face sending blood everywhere.

"Hey Alexander that's too much!" Louise said in horror.

"YOU BLOODY TRAITOR!" Alexander screamed, "YOU PREACH ABOUT LOYALTY AND NEVER SHOWING COWARDICE BUT THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT SOMEONE WHO WAS TRYING TO RESCUE YOU?" as he was held back from attacking Luna by Daniel as he really did look ready to kill her. "WHAT KIND OF PERSON ARE YOU? YOU DAMN HYPOCRITE! LOUISE SHOULD'VE LEFT YOU IN THE BUILDING TO DIE!"

"Alexander stop!" Louise pleaded fearing for Luna's sanity, true she was angry that Luna opted to shut her out and left her to be potentially killed by the Confederacy but she never meant for this to go out of control, "Please just stop Luna was just scared-"

"THEN SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE SAID THOSE THINGS TO SUZIE! I HATE PEOPLE LIKE HER!" Alexander snapped glaring at Luna who was looking extremely frightened and she was almost disoriented with everything.

"Alright that's enough!" Mason's voice boomed through as Louise turned to see their squad commander standing there.

"Li-Lieutenant Terry!" Daniel said.

Mason then strode over to Luna as he dragged her to her feet, "Get up, GET UP!" he roared as Luna promptly stood up as he towered over here, "Had enough yet?"

"Y-y-yes sir..." Luna said meekly, "b-but sir I-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses," Mason said, "get out of here, get cleaned up by the medic and then report to me next to the Falcon. I'll deal with you then," as Luna nodded before quickly walking away as Mason turned to Alexander, "release him," he ordered as Daniel released Alexander as he looked at Mason straight in the eye. "You the one who gave my sister the busted nose?"

"Yes sir," Alexander said flatly.

"Why?" Mason asked.

"She locked Private Valliere out while Confederacy troops were looking for them, she tried to save her own skin at the expense of one of her comrades, I can't forgive someone like her. Someone who just tries to save themselves without considering others, it's not right," Alexander explained.

Mason rocked on his feet for a few moments before slowly nodding, "Well said," surprising everyone in the room, "I couldn't have said it better. I'll be making sure to tell her my opinions on it; now...you did hit your superior officer so I still have to punish you, you'll be doing night patrol tonight _after_ you cleaned up the Falcon. Understood?"

"Sir yes sir," Alexander said as Mason turned before turning to Louise.

"Louise Valliere right?" he asked as Louise nodded, "Come see me after you're all cleaned up, I want to have a talk with you."

"Y-yes sir," Louise replied saluting him as everyone else did the same as he then eft them all as Louise gave a sigh of relief. The punishment wasn't that bad and it could have been a whole lot worse. She then glared at Alexander before going to him.

"What were you thinking Alexander? I probably won't mind you shouting at her, but busting her face? You could have been arrested!" Louise exclaimed.

"But it was you..." Alexander replied as he leaned forward into her surprising Louise who blushed, "it was you she locked out...you could have been killed...you could've..." as he then began to sob, "they could've done things to you..." as Louise hugged him.

"Alexander..." Louise whispered before smiling, "you shouldn't have worried about me, I'm Louise Valliere, I'm practically immortal!" she bragged using the same thing that she told Suzie.

"Heh...it's impossible to be immortal," Alexander commented.

"Well I'm different," Louise said.

"Well thank goodness the punishment wasn't severe, I really did fear the worse for you Alexander," Daniel said, "next time try to think before you act okay?"

"Though the lieutenant was pretty cold to Luna, I wonder what's going on between them?" Alicia commented.

"Well since it happened after Luna called Suzie a coward, I guess the lieutenant has a pet peeve about that, not everyone believes in that philosophy anymore," Daniel said, "I certainly don't and I'll be bopping the next person on the nose who calls anyone else a coward."

"Please don't be so violent," Louise said as they all laughed.

After everyone had returned to base Louise could see that the battle was over as several tanks were parked inside the supply base as ammos were given out to the soldiers while the officers were inside a makeshift tent looking over a map. No doubt they would be finishing up on the offensive soon and that Louise would soon be fighting again, she sighed hoping that she would be able to sit out a battle after everything that's she's gone through but of course no such luck in the militia, or the military. After Louise had cleaned up she parted ways with Alexander, who went to clean up the Falcon with Alice, before making her way to Mason's tent as a distraught Luna came out, "Luna...Luna I-" Louise began but Luna quickly walked away without sparing a glance at her.

Wondering what had happened Louise came in as Mason was finishing putting some papers away, "Lieutenant is this a bad time?" Louise asked.

Mason turned to her, "No it isn't, have a seat private," gesturing to a chair as Louise sat opposite him, "so...was what Private Manos said true?" he asked as Louise nodded and explained briefly what happened as Mason rubbed his eyes. "First off let me apologise...for both what she did to you and also what she said to Private Rose," Mason said, "I'm sure you're well familiar with the Belfast philosophy of never retreating...for military families like mine it's more or less a mandate that we must uphold. Do you know much about our military family?"

"No sir," Louise replied.

"Well so as to not bore you with the complicated and long history I'll get to the point...our father, General Terry, was killed during a battle as I'm sure you've heard," Mason said as Louise remembered some people talking about how the general had been killed in a battle though the details were sketchy. "That had a...profound impact on us obviously as children as I was only 15 and Luna 13 at the time," he said as his voice quavered, clearly he was thinking of that painful time.

"You don't have to tell me this sir if it's painful for you," Louise said as Mason smiled at her.

"No...you need to know. You see Luna then became fixiated on following our father's footstep, she wanted to be a military officer just like him, however...she fears death."

"We all fear death sir."

"She takes it a few notches higher, although she may present an outward appearance of bravery and preach about the philosophy and what not. Deep inside she is very fearful of dying like her father, she doesn't want to die yet but cannot escape her fate as a military soldier at the same time. Thus when under pressure she literally breaks down as you saw, she only cares about saving herself and will abandon her comrades."

"That sounds...problematic," Louise said _Then why is she in the military? Better yet why is she second-in-command then?_ was what Louise really thought on the matter.

"Indeed it does I've been trying to get her transferred to another, much safer, unit such as the artillery or armoured divisions even. However she lacks the qualifications to do so and she refuses to serve in the support units such as communication. However...I will admit, not as her brother but as an officer, that she has a good potential to be a leader...to be a military officer."

"I've...noticed that," Louise said surprised that her own thoughts matched that of Mason's, did that mean that they were in sync with each other? Or did she just have the same thoughts as him by pure coincidence?

"I will not hold it against you if you wish to transfer to another unit, I will vouch for you with the squad commander," Mason said, "it is understandable in light of what she did. I have no excuses to give to you."

"No I won't transfer sir," Louise said after a while, "squad 13 is my home, my family, although I do wish that the policy of never retreating isn't held strongly...I believe that there are many people in the squad who thinks the same way. As you said Sergeant Luna has the most potential to be an officer and to be honest I look forward to seeing her grow...not sure why, but I just like seeing growth in people."

"In that case please help my sister," Mason said, "I watched you talk to Suzie after what happened to her. You were the most...understanding of the squad and you didn't seem to care what people thought about you, I need someone like you...someone to change everyone...please...help me Private Valliere."

"I can't change _everyone_ lieutenant, but I can certainly try," Louise said, "after all...I also suffered discrimination once in my life, I do not intend for others to feel the same pain I did."

"I see...you must have had a tough life," Mason commented.

"You have no idea," Louise said as her heart was painfully wounded by the memories of her time in her world, would they ever heal? Louise wonders that sometimes herself...but for now her heart laid with Belfast and surviving this war as well as caring for those she call friends.

"So tell me the plan again?" Alexander asked as Louise and him were hiding behind some rubble as gun fire echoed above them.

"The Confederacy is holed up in one of their main bases, it's their last hold on the city and if we manage to penetrate through their defences and take over the base then we would be able to take them out completely," Louise explained again. "Our mission is to scout the enemy and see what kind of defences they have," as she and Alexander were picked by Mason for this mission as she sighed and fingered her scarf, such a troublesome mission but she couldn't flat out refused them could she? Well at least it was just scouting the enemy what could go wrong?

"Well I'm sure that this should be a simple mission," Alexander said optimistically, "so how close are we?"

"Pretty close," Louise said taking out her binocular and trying to get a line of sight on any troop movements, but with all the rubble it was hard to see anything, "but it's next to useless here. We're going to have to move," she said as she looked around trying to find a higher position but was still hidden from the enemy as she spied a still intact building as she pointed to it, "there let's go over there."

"Ah that's quite close," Alexander said, "you sure that's wise?" he asked.

"It's the only way that we'll be able to properly assess the enemy," Louise said, "it's not that far from the entrance so the Confederacy shouldn't be able to see us and the building's a perfect cover for us."

"Well if you say so I'll follow you anywhere Louise," Alexander said as Louise looked at him with a mixture of wonder and amusement before she turned and quickly moved from cover to cover avoiding the Confederacy sights before going into the building.

The building used to be a hotel by the looks of it as it was quite lovely and big, bags could be seen strewn around the place as dust had settled on the otherwise perfect furniture as lights flickered in and out. Louise gestured for Alexander to follow her as she went to one of the floors as she looked out the window, it didn't offer the perfect vantage point but it was enough to support the offensive forces. "Looks like they have that road covered," Louise said indicating the main road, "it'll be hard for the main force to fight there, the side roads seems to be covered as well…guess they can't outflank the base and it's positioned in a way so that they can only attack from the sides and front."

"Sounds like a difficult fight is on our hands," Alexander said.

"Yes we do," Louise said as she made a mental note of all the unit positions and the weapons that they had as well as where all the tanks were, at the very least there was one tank for each path with the majority inside the base itself no doubt as a last line of defence. "Well we have the tanks to back us up and I'm sure that the Confederacy troops are tired as well after getting besieged by us, plus they have no supplies. This should be an easy fight."

"There's no such things as an easy fight," Alexander said quoting from their drill instructor as Louise smiled and remembered the training she underwent before reaching where she was here.

"There's always a fight that's above easy," Louise finished as she smiled, "of course…now we just need to make it as easy as possible without it becoming easy. Time to report back to Mason," as she grabbed her radio and reported everything that she saw back to Mason as he told her to stay put and continue monitoring the situation while they proceeded towards the base as Louise sat down and got comfortable, "you want to take the first shift?"

"I don't think there is a shift in this situation," Alexander said, "but I'll take the first watch," as he took the binocular from Louise as he watched the enemy closely. "So…what did Mason talked about with you the other day? After what happened in the building?"

Louise had not talked to anyone about what had happened in the building nor what Mason discussed with her, not even with Alexander yet, she didn't know how the squad would react to Luna fearing death in an extreme way. No doubt she would suffer the same stigma that Suzie was, or would she? Perhaps not seeing as how she continues to charge head on despite this, but would she recover in time? A thousand things ran through Louise's mind as she looked up to Alexander. "Not much…just asked if I wanted to transfer to another unit because of what Luna did to me," Louise told him.

"Well I guess you being here answers that question, though why didn't you?" Alexander asked.

"I've gotten used to squad 13," Louise said, "besides…who would look after you if I'm not around?" smirking at him as he tilted his head in confusion before going back to the window.

"Hey Alexander…will you…ever forgive Luna? I've noticed that you've done your best to avoid her since the incident, are you still mad about it?"

"Yep," Alexander said without any hesitation, "I don't like it how she just ups and left you like that. If I hadn't convinced the others to follow me and back you up who knows what would have happened to you? She should've been the sergeant she is and guided you to a safe place, not run away and try to save herself."

"I guess we don't really know someone until we spend a lot of time with them," Louise said absentmindedly, "I can…understand what she's going through though…to have the pressures of your family name bearing upon you all the time, to always live up to their expectations even when you don't want to. It's quite hard, suffocating even."

"Personal experiences?" Alexander asked.

"More like the story of my life," Louise said as Alexander looked at her with surprise on his face.

"You came from a military family?"

"Well I guess so," Louise said, "my mother was a famous soldier before she married my father. The Valliere family is famous and we're one of the top-ranked nobles in my world," as she leaned back into the wall.

"So your world has nobles as well huh?" Alexander remarked.

"Does this world?"

"Yeah, you usually see them leading the troops into battle since most of the officers are nobles, it's hard for us commoners to get into a higher position in the army."

"Typical…I can't believe it's the same in this world."

"Sounds a little bit strange coming from you."

"I was always taught that the nobles should take care of the commoners, a strange idea in my world but I tried my best to follow it. Sometimes I wonder if I should be disgusted with myself for being a noble, or am I just a different kind of noble"

"If there is one thing that my pa told me is that it's better to be true to yourself rather then to follow other people and lie to yourself. I think you being you is the best thing that could ever happen and to be honest…I'm happy that you're you Louise," Alexander said as Louise blushed as she looked away before getting up.

"Well I think it's time for me to take-" Louise said before a loud explosion rocked the building as it shook and more dust came down, "w-what's that?"

"The offensive's begun," Alexander said as Louise peeked outside the window to see that the entire Belfast army had come bearing down on the base as the tanks were spearheading the operation as they shrugged off the small arms fire as rockets and tank shells rained down on them.

"Come on we gotta be there, we can't stay up here or else-" Louise said dragging Alexander just as a stray tank shell blew up the wall next to them as the shockwave brought them down as she winced in pain, "damn it come on Alexander!" as they flew down the flights of staircases as they encountered a group of Belfast soldiers who aimed their guns at them. "It's just us!" Louise said slightly gasping as the soldiers continued on, "Thank god they didn't shoot us."

"Nearly was the operative word I believe," Alicia said as she smiled at them, "come on you two I'm sure you don't want to miss the party, we're going to take down one of the machine gun positions up north, it's slaughtering the infantry down there."

"Alright lead the way Alicia," Louise said as they followed the squad through the buildings shielding from stray bullets or explosions as thankfully the buildings were still intact enough to allow them to hide in the buildings to avoid being fired upon. They were soon in enemy lines as the group of soldiers hid inside the building as they saw a machine gun nest firing away, Alicia then took out a grenade as she pulled the pin before throwing it through the window as it landed next to them. The soldiers barely had time to register it before they were blown to pieces as Louise winced as that drew the attention of the Confederacy as they began peppering them with bullets.

"Alright time to stay, keep holding this building while more of them get here," Alicia said as with the machine gun nest safely out of the way more infantry began advancing. Mortar shells began bombing the first defence line of the Confederacy as they began to retreat to their next line as Louise took cover behind a building as she fired on them, the operation seemed to be going well and it was obvious that they had listened to Louise's report as they were assaulting the other flanks as well. With little to go on the Confederacy were beginning to be pushed back to the base as victory seemed close at hand before one of the tanks, not the Falcon thankfully, exploded as a bigger tank then the medium ones came on the scene.

"Good god! That's a heavy tank!" one of the engineers exclaimed, "That's things a complete monster!" as demonstrated when it fired its cannon as a building exploded from one side to the next as Louise gaped, how could such a monstrosity exist? And will they be able to even destroy it?

"Oh dear it does seem we have a problem," Alexander stated.

"H-how do we destroy something like that?" Louise asked, "It'll tear us apart!"

"Well I suppose we could hammer it with tank shells...but," Alexander said, "it's armour is quite thick."

"Gee that's useful," Louise said sarcastically.

"There's also it's weak point, if someone could lay a charge at it's weak point then we probably have a shot at it!" the engineer said.

"And where is it's weak point?" Louise asked though she already knew, and dreaded, the answer.

"At it's back, the armour of a tank is always at its weakest at the back," as Louise groaned, how were the able to hit the backside of the tank? It was impossible from where they are and unless someone outflanked it, they weren't going to get the shot.

"Well unless the right and left flank is penetrated we won't be able to destroy that thing," Louise stated as one of the engineers took out a proximity charge, "you have a proximity charge?"

"Yeah, and they're designed to stick to surfaces so if you put one at the back then it should seriously damage the tank...that is...if someone can get past the enemy fire," as they turned to see the tank being supported by the infantry. With those soldiers supporting the tank it would be hard for them to get past in order to put the charge on the tank. The person would have to be brave, fast enough to outrun any enemy scope, or incredibly foolish to try something like that as the heavy tank fired its cannon destroying another tank as Louise gritted her teeth, none of them wanted to test out whether they were good enough for this kind of mission.

However the further they debated about it the more lives would be loss as Louise looked at Alexander, "Who's fastest? You or me?" she asked.

"Eh? What's this about?" Alexander asked.

"I asked who's faster, me or you?" Louise repeated.

"Well...if you ask me then I guess you..." Alexander said, 'wait...you're not thinking," as Louise grabbed the charge.

"I'll go and place the charge, there should be enough cover between the buildings so I don't get shot to pieces, however I'm going to need you guys to distract the infantry while I place the charge. Just basically slap-and-run right?" Louise said referring to how the proximity charge was so easy to use that it was basically just 'slapping' it on a surface and running before detonating it.

"Y-yeah, but just you?" the engineer said.

"I'm the fastest in my squad," Louise said as squad 13 had a strange competition where they competed against each other to see who was the fastest. Mason had told them it was all fun and games and it also helped them with their combat duties so that they can move from one place to the other quickly. "I can get there quickly, put the charge on, and get away before they get a bead on me but I need someone to cover me while I do that."

"Well consider it done then," as Louise turned to see Robert as the merchant gave her a curt nod, "heya Miss Valliere, heard you need someone to cover you?"

"Hey Robert haven't seen you around," Louise remarked.

"Been busy," Robert said as he ducked as a building exploded, "taking out some Confederacy soldiers, however you going for that tank? Alone?"

"Better to be alone," Louise said, "I appreciate any help you can give me," as Robert nodded as he went off and aimed at the farthest trooper before pulling the trigger as Lousie took that as a sign that it was on. Taking a deep breath she judged which building was the best one to go to to allow cover as she then started to get up before Alexander grabbed her hand as she looked at him.

"Good luck," Alexander said as Louise smiled.

"Thanks don't worry I'm Louise Valliere, I can't die here," she said before she ran full speed towards the building as bullets whizzed past her as the sound of a sniper rifle echoed again and again as she knew Robert was helping her out. Soon enough the sounds of other weapons fired as no doubt the other people were supporting her as the heavy tank continued to hammer the offensive forces, quickly moving from one building to the next Louise concentrated on only getting the charge to the tank.

She tightened the scarf around her neck before moving onto the next building as she was quite close to the tank, she was practically right next to it and she was thankful that none of the enemy had spotted her. In one of the buildings a group of Confederacy soldiers were going through the building, no doubt to flank the Belfast military, as Louise hid behind one of the doors as she took out a grenade and pulled the pin before rolling it down the door. The explosion was loud enough to nearly deafen her as she could smell burning flesh and smoke as she tried not to gag. She then burst through the door and after checking that there were no survivors continued on making sure not to look at the dead bodies.

She then took the charge out before looking out to see that the infantry was occupied by the forces in front of them as she crawled underneath the windows taking care not to peek out of it before finding the side exit. Taking a deep breath she prepared herself for this, even though they were occupied by the front it didn't mean that their rear forces would be sitting down as no doubt they would be shooting at her. She would need to go in and put the charges at the ready before she got injured, _Dear gods...if there are any gods here then protect me, please_ she pleaded.

She then got up and running outside she was instantly peppered by the bullets as the Confederacy soldiers realised what she was up to as she quickly slapped the charge on the tank and primed it before scrambling back to the building before pressing the detonator. A loud explosion roared as she peeked over the window to see that the back of the tank exploded in a fiery blaze as she grinned. With her mission accomplished she now hurried back to the building as now it seemed she was the number one enemy for all enemy soldiers as they fired at her non-stop, "Hey where's my support?" Louise screamed.

"They're too pissed at you for us to do anything," one jokingly said.

"The hell?" Louise yelled back before sliding to a nearby sandback as she growled, "Damn jokers, let's see if they're laughing the next time they're running away."

"Good job Louise," Alicia said, "that was really brave of you, we have a chance of winning now! Look they're already starting to retreat!" as Louise looked over the sandbags. With the near destruction of their ace card the Confederacy had begun to retreat from the city as the heavy tank began rolling back as smoke billowed out of its back, Louise wondered if the smoke was getting into the compartment or the crew could still see as normal, as the Belfast forces moved in to rout the remaining forces. Louise was quite excited with a major victory on their hand as she was at the front lines taking down the soldiers that were hiding within the building as she took one down and entered a room.

However she did not see a soldier rolling a grenade down the room as she her adrenaline was clouding her judgement, "Louise watch out!" Alicia cried as Louise stopped and turned towards Alicia before the grenade exploded. She felt a sharp pain shoot through her entire body before she then blacked out.

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**Never done an Author's Note at the bottom but have to say apologies for the cliffhanger :D Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Look forward to the next exciting instalment. **


	9. Chapter 8: Wounded Soldier

**Thank you to all who reviewed my work. I really appreciate it, now this chapter is a little shorter then the others but I hope it has a good impact on all of you. Enjoy this chapter. **

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Louise felt pain when she came to after the explosion as she felt like she was stabbed with a hundred swords as she wondered if she was dead. She shouldn't be dead if she could feel pain, but anything was possible in the afterlife, she groaned as she slowly opened her eyes as the first thing she saw was the ceiling as she blinked a couple of times, "She's awake," Alicia cried out as she then turned to saw Alicia there next to her, "hey there," she said smiling, "how are you feeling?"

"Bad," Louise said as she tried to move, but her whole body ached so much that she just gave up on that.

"Well a grenade explosion could do that to you," Alicia said as Louise turned to her right and saw Alexander there smiling at him.

"What happened?" Louise asked, "I remember the grenade, but I blacked out afterwards."

"Well we won," Alicia stated, "that's the short version. Long version is that we dragged you out after you got hit and got you to a medic pronto before they shipped you to the capital to get treatment here."

"Well good to hear," Louise said, "winning I mean. How long was I out for?"

"A week," Alexander said.

"Well I guess I'm here for another day I suppose then I guess I'll be joining you guys right?" Louise said optimistically as Alicia bit her lip while Alexander looked somber. "What's wrong?"

"You haven't noticed Louise? About your eye?" Alicia asked as Louise took a step back to assess herself, now that she thought about it she was only seeing from one eye and she could feel a bandage on her left eye as she touched it briefly.

"Well it's just an injury right?" Louise said, "It's nothing major, probably have a scar at the very least."

"Louise..." Alexander said scratching his arm nervously, "the shrapnel from the grenade...it did more then just give you a scar..."

"W-what are you saying?" Louise asked, "Alexander you're scaring me...what happened?"

"Louise there's...there's no easy way to say this but..." Alicia said as she held Louise's hand, "your left eye it's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Louise asked as her heart hammered against her as she gripped the blanket tighter.

"The shrapnel from the grenade, it completely tore your left eye, god there was so much blood...I thought you were dead," Alicia said as she shook from the memory, "you were lucky the scarf protected your neck or you would have really died. The medic took care of all your other injuries but your eye...I'm so sorry Louise," as Louise was in complete shock. She had never imagined, in all the time fighting, that she would actually _lose_ something; sure she knew she would get injured and probably get a few cuts and scrapes but to actually lose an eye? It was almost like a nightmare as she looked at Alicia in disbelief.

"N-no...tell me you're joking...i-it can't be," Louise said as she touched the bandage over her left eye again, she could almost feel the eye still there, it wasn't possible that she had lost the eye as she hyperventilated as the thought of it was real as she shook her head in disbelief.

"Hey Louise calm down-" Alicia said.

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! I LOST A EYE GODDAMNIT! AN EYE!" Louise shrieked as Alicia flinched away from Louise as Louise began breaking down, the exterior that she had always displayed was gone, all that remained was just a scared girl with one eye left as she curled up on the bed and whimpered. Alicia was speechless and didn't know what to say while Alexander put a reassuring hand on her head as he stroked it.

"It'll be okay Louise, it'll be fine," he said softly as Louise just remained in the fetal position as her mind tried to come to terms that this was now real, she could have very well died in that grenade explosion and she had paid the price by losing an eye. Doubt of whether she could truly survive this war began to surface as she just wanted to do nothing more then go home right now, she regretted ever leaving the academy in the first place and getting into this mess, she regretted not giving Wardes a chance. Perhaps she truly made a grave mistake coming to this world and perhaps the price for that mistake was death as she became more frightened by the prospect of dying as she clutched the bedsheets tighter.

"Louise...uhm...I know it may not be much of anything, but...you got a medal, two medals actually, for your services in the siege," Alicia said hesitantly as Louise couldn't give a damn about medals. They didn't mean much to her, or anyone, in this situation and they just served as nothing more then decorations as she grunted in response. "Everyone's been wondering about you, Suzie practically comes here everyday, and Alexander...he hasn't left your side since you got admitted here."

"Alicia," Alexander groaned as a sliver of a smile came to Louise's face, at least there were those who came and cared for her, it wasn't much of a condolence though. She still had to live the rest of her life, if it came to that, with only one eye and she wondered what kind of changes would occur to her. Would she still be allowed to fight on the field? Or was that the end of her military career? If so then what should she do? She still had no idea how to get home, or if she could even get to home, she would have to live off the charity of others and as a noble that was a bit hard to swallow.

She was used to a life of luxury and comfort, not to something like this, she knew that the Masons would welcome her with open arms; but she couldn't rely on them for the rest of her life. Perhaps she would be transferred to a non-combat unit, and that meant she would be away from squad 13 and away from Alexander as she sighed, would he still want to follow her? Would he be allowed to? If she wasn't at his side then she wouldn't be able to protect him and fulfill her promise to his parents. The door then opened as a doctor came in, "Ah you're awake, how are you feeling?"

"Physically, mentally or emotionally?" Louise asked somberly.

"Ah so you know...yes I'm sorry that had to happen," the doctor said somberly.

"It's fine..." Louise said even though she was lying to herself as it wasn't fine, it was anything but fine, however she couldn't face the reality of it...she just couldn't. "What's going to happen to me now?"

"Well now we have to make sure that you're fine as physically and emotionally as possible, before we start on rehabilitation," the doctor said.

"Will I...will I ever be able to fight again?" Louise asked as the doctor frowned as he took a seat.

"To be quite honest if this was a normal wartime situation then I say that your military career was over and that you'll be transferred to a non-combat role," as Louise looked down.

"You said normal...so that means I can fight on the field?" Louise said.

"That's your choice, we need all the men we can get to fight on the frontlines, however I've never known a soldier who wouldn't take a free pass out of combat for the rest of the war," the doctor said.

Louise looked down on the sheet as she deliberated on it, on the one hand she would be out of the battle and she would 100% be able to survive the war because of her non-combat role excluding an invasion of the capital. However at the same time...she could not shrug off her want to protect her comrades, the friends that she made in squad 13, she did not want to abandon them and have them fight while she was safe. But she was so conflicted on what she wanted to do as she bit her lip as her inner turmoil was threatening to consume her, "C-can I...can I take a day to think about it?"

"Certainly just come find me when you're ready with your decision," the doctor said and after some checks he left the room wishing Louise a speedy recovery.

"Are you...are you thinking about transferring to another unit?" Alicia asked, "I don't blame you if you do especially with what happened..."

"I don't know..." Louise said, "I just don't know...I...I'm so confused."

"Take your time," Alexander said, "we won't pressure you to do something you don't want to do."

"Yeah," Alicia said, "after all you done for us it's your choice what your future is going to be."

"Thank you..." Louise muttered, "I'm sorry, but could you...please leave? I want to be alone," she didn't want to have anyone with her today. She just wanted to be lost in her thoughts and her own feelings as they nodded and left the room as Alexander gave Louise her scarf, patched up since it was damaged by the shrapnel before he smiled at her. The instant that they left the room the tears started to flow as she cried and cried, she had never felt so lost before in her life, not since the academy where she failed the ritual. She just felt scared about the future, so scared, as she just spent most of the time crying and thinking about what to do as her inner conflict became a maelstrom of doubt and fears as it continued a cycle of doubt, fear, hope and then doubt once more.

The afternoon quickly arrived as the setting sun gave a orange hue to the room as Louise was sitting by the window looking out of it, she had still not decided on what she wanted to do and she wondered what to do as she fingered the scarf feeling every thread on it as she thought about Alexander and if he would be alright without her. The door then opened and Louise expected a nurse to come by and check on her, not Suzie Rose, as her mouth dropped slightly as Suzie smiled at her. "Hello Miss Valliere are you okay? Oh how silly of me of course you're not what I meant is if uhm...if you...well..." Suzie stammered.

"It's okay," Louise said, "I'm fine...have a seat," as Suzie sat opposite Louise as she looked out the window, "how have you been?"

"I've been well Miss Valliere," Suzie said nervously, "it's been a bit hard since you left, but Luna's been defending me...I think she feels responsible for me."

"Well...after what happened I suppose she thinks differently about the whole concept of cowardice," Louise said with a slight smile.

"How are you coping?" Suzie asked softly.

"Fine I suppose, had a little trouble grabbing things and with walking, but other then that I'm functioning okay."

"I see...will you...be leaving squad 13 then? I mean can you still fight?"

"I would probably need to be re-trained on how to fight with one eye only if I do go back to the field, but most likely it'll take some time. And...I'm still not sure whether or not I should join the fight or not...it's a difficult decision."

"I can understand that, if it was me I would probably take the free pass out of combat and be stuck in some administrative duty. But that's just me," Suzie said with a slight laugh as she then looked at Louise with, dare she say it, affectionate look. "Uhm...Miss Valliere-"

"Please call me Louise...you don't need to be so formal with me," Louise said as Suzie blushed slightly.

"O-okay Louise I...I've been thinking about things, about my role in this war, and...and I'm thinking of actually fighting," Suzie said as Louise tilted her head in confusion.

"What do you mean? I thought you hate fighting?" Louise asked.

"I do," Suzie exclaimed, "I think that war is a horrible and terrible thing; it brings nothing but death and destruction. However...however I'm probably not the only one thinking like that, I'm sure there are others who don't want to fight in that war, but despite that they keep on fighting and don't run away. How can I selfishly run away while others are fighting? It's not fair of them so...so that's why from now on I'm going to fight with all I've got, I'm going to learn from other people and I'm going to end this war as fast as possible. And it's all thanks to you Louise."

"W-what do you mean?" Louise asked in surprise.

"You've inspired me to be better then myself, when I hid there I knew that there wouldn't be many who would defend me, I was prepared to be an outcast in squad 13 and would probably suffer a lot. But then...then you came and defended me, even though all the others didn't want to associate with me you did...you and Alexander helped that pain in my chest, the pain of loneliness, to ease a little and I was so happy. I want to be like you Louise, a woman who is strong and doesn't care what other people think of me, I want to be the best soldier I can be so one day I can tell everyone that I fought in the war and I served my country," Suzie explained with pride in her voice as Louise found herself blushing slightly.

She looked at her and she could also see the determination in Suzie, a determination that was not unlike Louise when she first told everyone that even though she might not be able to properly do magic she would still strive to be the best she can be. At that time everyone just laughed at her and probably still do, but that motivation and determination set her apart from all the others...it drove her and continued to motivate her; it became part of her.

She could see herself in Suzie, a girl trapped in a role she doesn't want to play but yet must play, Suzie accepted it with grace and perhaps...just maybe Louise still had a role to play in this little war. Louise could feel that determination, that spark of passion that was her, swell in her chest as she felt more and more confident by the second as she looked out to the window and into her soul before arriving at the decision. "Suzie..." Louise began.

"Yes?" Suzie asked.

"If...if I decide to go back to the field will you...will you be there by my side? Along with all the other squads?" Louise asked, it was a strange question but she needed to know if she would have the support of others, or would she go alone in this? It didn't mind either way but some friends would help...

Suzie positively beamed when she heard this as she nodded, "Of course Louise, I will always be there for you just as you have for me, wherever you go I'll follow you," she said grabbing Louise's hand as Louise looked at her in surprise before smiling.

"Well then...I think I know what my answer is going to be," Louise said.

Later that day the doctor came back to hear her verdict as she told him what she wanted: to continue fighting with her comrades and to end this war as quickly as possible so that no other lives would need to be taken. The doctor told her that she would need to be re-trained in combat techniques, especially since her depth perception would be out of balance and it would make judging distances hard. She also need to re-orient herself with walking and doing normal things, again because of depth perception, as well as a thousand other things that escaped her. But that did not deter her as she looked at the doctor and told him, "I'm Louise Valliere, I will not surrender to such trials, I'll do anything to protect my friends," as the doctor was somewhat amused, but told her that he would look forward to seeing that determination.


	10. Chapter 9: Return of A Heroine

**Hi everyone it's time for another chapter! Thank you again to those that have reviewed, favourite and followed the story, again I appreciate it, I hope to hear more from the readers. I hope you enjoy this chapter, see you again soon.**

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Louise aimed carefully at the target as she adjusted her position as she slowed her breathing down before pulling the trigger. The bullet went through the target as she checked to see if she hit it accurately as she smiled when she saw that she had hit the target dead on, it wasn't exactly a fatal shot but it would take down an enemy soldier no problem, "Good job private that was nicely done," the instructor praised.

"Thank you sir," Louise said feeling quite pleased with herself. She had spent a lot of time since her decision to join squad 13 re-training herself and getting used to having only one eye. The doctor wasn't joking when he said it would be hard as she found even walking to be slightly difficult as her left side was completely blocked off and in the beginning she kept bumping into things because she didn't 'see' it forcing her to always look around constantly when she's walking. She even did some training running with obstacles in her path to train herself to continually look around her since she would also be running while under enemy fire, which is also simulated, and the first few times she had crashed into obstacles because she forgot to watch herself.

She also found it hard to judge distances as she her hand often missed things and she grabbed on empty air, like for example trying to grab a cup of water and while she thought she had grabbed onto it she found she just missed it. Therefore her rehabilitation also included on regaining her perception of how to judge objects at a distance so she could actually hold things and function normally.

"Well you've been here for a while and I've never seen a more dedicated soldier then you especially with your condition," the instructor said, "I think I can safely say that you're more then capable now to go back on the field."

"R-really?" Louise asked as the instructor nodded.

"Just make sure to come back to the doc every time you come back to the capital and speaking of the doc she wants to see you now before you go back to your squad," the instructor said.

"Yes sir thank you sir," Louise said as she ran to the hospital as she fluidly dodged the crowd as by now looking all around her had become second nature to her before she arrived in front of Dr. Marina's office. Dr Marina was her doctor in charge of Louise's health, she took an interest in her after hearing that she still wanted to go back on the field despite her injury citing that she had never been more inspired by a patient before.

"Ah Louise how was the test?" Dr Marina asked, she was a tall woman with long black hair and green eyes that hid behind a glasses with a loving personality making her popular with the male patients.

"It went well, I'm ready to return back to duty," Louise said.

"Excellent, excellent let's just do a few more exercises before you go okay?" Dr Marina said as Louise nodded. They then went through their rehabilitation exercises that aimed to improve Louise's depth perception, today it was catching a ball since it was simple and easy to do, at first Louise had great difficulty from either misjudging the distance or simply going at it too early. But now she was able to catch it with only 1 miss per 10 throws depending on the situation, she also did exercises that used balance and she remembered countless time falling down because of it. However she was able to pass that test and now thanks to Dr Marina's constant support Louise's functionality was back to at least 90-92% making her almost like she didn't lose her left eye.

"That's enough for today, let me just do some checks on your eye," Dr Marina said as Louise took off her eyepatch, a simple black eyepatch with squad 13's insignia on it etched by Adriana herself, "is it still itching?" she asked.

"Sometimes, it feels really itchy that I just want to scratch it, but it just makes it worse," Louise said.

"I'm afraid there's not much I can do to help you with that," Dr Marina said, "you'll just have to be careful with it and make sure to keep the eyepatch on. It should help with keeping dirt and other things out of it, any other problems?"

"Other then the phantom problem we talked about? Not really," Louise said, in the beginning of her treatment she would sometimes feel as though her 'eye' was still there despite to the contrary. Dr Marina had called this phantom pain and usually go away in time though it is a stark reminder to Louise of what she lost on the battlefield.

"Ok, well I want you to come back here after every mission or when you have the chance, no excuses. I want to check up on you to make sure you're in top shape," Dr Marina said as Louise nodded.

"I will," she replied, "thank you Dr Marina for everything you've done. I couldn't have made it without you."

"It was all you Louise, you're quite a fighter to continue on with the treatment despite what happened. I'm sure many people will look favourably on that," Dr Marina said with a soft smile as Louise grinned before parting from her and going to squad 13. Luckily they were here at the moment and they were just getting ready to leave so she had to hurry to catch them, despite her initial thoughts nothing much happened to squad 13. Everyone was still safe and sound though there were many transfers within the squad itself though neither Suzie, Alicia, Alexander or anyone else Louise knew personally got transferred and they all visited her time and time again.

As she walked towards the barracks she thought back about her re-training and rehabilitation and the times that she doubted her ability and her future. The beginning was the hardest as she had to live with such a shocking injury that sometimes she thought that it was just a nightmare and she would wake up with both eyes intact. At night she would cry quietly to herself because she didn't believe that she would be able to get over this, that her career as a soldier was over and she would be unable to cope with this, she didn't want that to happen...she wanted to be an independent person not someone to be pitied.

That thought was enough to encourage her that she shouldn't give up and doubt herself, even when she failed an exercise or didn't get a good mark in her re-training she never gave up. She knew that if she gave up then she would not be able to recover her motivation again and therefore she kept on going. Now after all these time she managed to make it, she was finally a soldier again and the injury would be part of her, she had accepted that and she hoped that others would be able to accept that as well.

Arriving at squad 13's barracks Louise couldn't see anyone around so that usually meant that they were in the briefing room getting briefed about an upcoming mission as she went through the maze of corridors before arriving at the briefing room just as everyone else was coming out as Alicia was the first to see her, "Louise! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed.

"What do you think I'm here for? I'm back on duty," Louise said.

"They discharged you?" Alexander asked his head poking out the door.

"Yep got the paperwork and all to prove it," Louise said showing them the document as Mason came out and took it.

"Yep it's all in order, you're back in business Louise, good to see you again. Shame that you miss the briefing though."

"That's fine, I can be filled in on it, when are we moving out?" Louise asked.

"Actually the mission requires only a small group so not everyone's going," Mason said as Louise looked surprised.

"Oh? Well then I suppose that's a good thing I missed it then, who's going on the mission?" Louise asked.

"Luna, Johnson, Jack and a couple others. Luna's leading of course," Mason said, "rest of the squad got time off until we get called for another mission. So lucky you I suppose," Mason said as Louise nodded though truthfully she just wanted to go out and actually do something rather then sitting around doing nothing. Maybe she would go out and shoot some targets to practice her accuracy as she walked with Alicia and Alexander as they filled her in with the mission: basically it was a prisoner rescue since several members of the militia got captured during a retreat, it was a night operation and squad 13 was tasked with rescuing all of them. Louise couldn't imagine what the prisoners must be going through and she hoped that it never happened to anyone else as a brown-haired girl, probably no more then 19 years old, approached the trio.

"Hi there, you must be the famous Louise Valliere right?" the girl asked, she had blue eyes and a sparkle in them that Louise had never seen before in a person. "The one that blew up that heavy tank and got an eye taken out cause of that?"

"Yes that would be me," Louise said as she didn't like being reminded of her losing the eye, "and you are?"

"Claudia Clement. Transferred from the 3rd squad to here, you can consider me your rival," Claudia said as Louise looked at her in confusion.

"Rival?" she questioned.

"Yep, ya see when I heard about what you did at Barton, in fact I saw it since I was at the frontlines when you damaged that tank. I have to say that was some gutsy movement at your part, of course I would've helped you out if it wasn't for the fact I was pinned down by some enemy fire. However I wanna see more of you to be honest, I want to see if you really do live up to your reputation as a brave soldier," Claudia clarified.

"I didn't know I had such a reputation," Louise admitted, she hadn't been in many battles and she certainly didn't feel that she did anything special prior to her damaging that heavy tank. She wondered who had been spreading these rumours about her?

"Well nonetheless I look forward to working with you, but I'm gonna be the top soldier by the end of this war," Claudia said with a grin before walking away from them.

"Uh...is she serious?" Louise asked.

"Probably, it's not rare to see soldiers competing against one another simply for bragging rights. There is even an unofficial competition between the militia squad," Alexander said, "though I am surprised that a person like Claudia would transfer here."

"Why's that?" Louise asked.

"Well I suppose she's like you back in the 3rd squad," Alexander said as Louise looked at him before he clarified, "she's sort of like a squad hero. She received the Medal of Gallantry when several of her squad members were pinned down by enemy fire, she then charged head on to the position before throwing a grenade to kill them all, that saved them and she was awarded that medal as recognition of that achievement. Of course you received two medals because you got injured when you played the hero, speaking of which where's your medal?"

"With me," Louise said patting her pocket, she had received the Medal of Gallantry and the Medal of Distinguished Service for her achievements at Barton. She didn't know if she should give it to someone for safekeeping or if she's expected to carry it throughout the war. That would be a pain to carry, but she would have to deal with it somehow, "well I suppose that means I have the lead at the moment," she remarked, "so what are you two going to do while we wait for Luna to finish her mission?"

"I was thinking of going shopping," Alicia said, "haven't seen the latest fashion yet and an aspiring movie star should always be up to date with the latest fashion."

"Typical," Louise sighed, "you know you're gonna go broke one day if you keep that up."

"Well...I could always charm a man to give me money, maybe Robert would be able to lend me some," Alicia said.

"Fat chance, that guys' practically married to his money," Louise said, "the chances of him giving you any is as good as the moon coming out during the daytime."

"Boo...well I suppose I could talk to Mason, though he's probably too lazy to even give me the money," Alicia said.

"Besides you just need to _look_ at the latest trend right? You don't need to actually buy it, where do you keep all your shopping anyways?" Louise asked.

"Oh I have the folks here to give it to them," Alicia said, "we live in the capital before the war so we have a house here. I'm quite lucky to be honest," as Louise forgot that the capital was also the biggest city so there were bound to have soldiers who lived in the capital before the war.

"Well that's your decision," Louise said as she turned to Alexander, "how about you? What are you going to do?"

"I think I might drop by the military seamstress, I have to get my patch," he replied.

"Patch?" Louise asked.

"Oh right you weren't here when they gave the news, since we've been in the militia for more then 6 months all of us get promoted to Private First Class. It's not much of a promotion then more of a congratulation that you've survived this long," Alexander said.

"That sounds...depressing when you think about it," Louise replied.

"It does, but it just means we need to end this war as fast as possible," Alexander said, "though i still can't believe it's been more then 6 months since the war began...how time flies."

"Stop it you two are depressing me," Alicia said, "maybe Louise should accompany you. I'm sure you two lovebirds have a lot to catch up on," she said with a wink before leaving them as Louise pouted.

"Mou~ she always does that to us...though I have to agree that I probably do need to get my patch updated," Louise said as Alexander smiled. They walked to the military seamstress chatting about trivial things such as the weather and the various missions that Louise missed out on while she was incapacitated. It seemed that with the Confederacy continuing their advance through Belfast the military had switched to a more conservative method of attack: attacking convoys of supplies, taking out outposts and doing covert missions to disrupt enemy movements and communication. The war was now a defensive one and all units were expected to move out at a moment's notice, it made Louise aware that perhaps things would be more dangerous then it already was and no doubt there would be times where she would doubt the decision she made. But what was done was done and she would see through it to the end whether for good or ill.

After getting their patches updated Louise felt a little...proud that she had made it to Private First Class after all this time, a sign that she had survived and endured everything that this world had thrown at her. Now if only she survived for real without losing any other limbs...that would suck big time. There was then a loud explosion from the garage as Louise looked to see the Falcon smoking, "W-what happened?" she asked as Alexander didn't seem to concerned about it, though then again he probably was like this everyday and being so indifferent about things unless it occurred to his friends.

"Ah that would probably Elise," Alexander said as Louise looked at him, "Elise Walden, she's a genius engineer that transferred around the same time as Claudia. She's from the 2nd squad," he clarified.

"A genius huh?" Louise said, "Is that true?"

"Supposedly," Alexander said, "she fixed up several tanks once while under fire and she was able to build ingenious inventions on the fly. She's quite the mechanic and you could say she and Alice are sort of rivals though...her 'inventions' tend to blow up at the most inopportune time. She's also young, quite young in fact only 14."

"14! I thought the minimum age of conscription was 15," Louise exclaimed, that would make Elise the youngest militiaman in history.

"Yeah I was surprised too, but her marks in engineering and combat training were off the charts...she really is a genius," Alexander said scratching his head as a small girl around the same height as Louise came out coughing followed by Alice as the two of the seemed to be arguing about something as Louise sighed.

"Then why did she move out of the 2nd squad if she was such a genius?" Louise asked, "It doesn't make sense that they would lose someone that valuable."

"That's because..." Alexander said sadly, "the 2nd squad was wiped out," as Louise gasped, "Elise was the only survivor of that massacre and she saw everything..."

"Everything?" Louise exclaimed as she looked back at Elise and saw her laughing, how could a girl who had seen all of her friends die in front of her be so...so carefree? If it was Louise she would probably be in complete shock and be unable to do anything...it was unimaginable losing everyone at once.

"Well I suppose in a way she's lucky and cursed at the same time," Alexander said, "I suppose that's why Alice's taken her under her wing despite how much she hates the exploding inventions. Much like you and Suzie," as Alexander smirked as Louise shyly looked away, "she never stops talking about you know? I think she's really into you."

"That sounds kind of wrong," Louise said, "but she is the reason I decided to go back to the field so I suppose I'll allow that...it would be fun to have a fan following after me."

"I suppose so, though you're going to make Alicia jealous" Alexander said with a grin as Louise groaned knowing how much the starlet wanted her own fan following though so far that had flopped pretty quickly. They then saw Luna and the other squad members getting on a truck as Mason was talking to his sister, "looks like they're off now...I hope it all goes well," Luna hugged her brother before getting on the truck before it sped off to its destination.

"Yeah me too, but this is Luna I'm talking about, I'm sure everything will be alright," Louise said as Alexander nodded. After all Luna was their second-in-command and one of the bravest, though that perception changed depend on who you ask, soldiers in squad 13 so nothing should go wrong on their mission right?


	11. Chapter 10: Saving Sergeant Terry

**Hi everyone, it's time for another chapter! Thank you again to everyone that reviewed, faved and followed the story and I again encourage you all to do the same. To answer a guest's question about Louise using magic the answer is yes, but it won't be a central part of the story. She will only use magic in very dire situations so don't expect constant explosions. Anyways here's the story, hope you enjoy it.**

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No one heard from Luna's team for almost two days since they began the mission. No one was worried as it was common for the teams to not contact anyone unless it was for dire emergencies and the squad knew that Luna was a capable leader even if she had her share of weaknesses. So it came to a surprise when news came that Luna's team was found as POWs as it sent a shock to the entire squad, "H-how did that happen?" Alicia asked, "I thought this was supposed to be a simple mission!"

"It was," Mason said, "command doesn't know what happened. Though reportedly the initial prisoners were a trap and that Luna's team was lured before being overpowered," he acted composed and calm despite news that his sister was a prisoner of war though Louise knew that Mason would be worried and frightened, she would be if it was one of her sisters and Louise could understand to a degree what Mason was feeling right now.

"So what happens now? Are we going for another rescue mission?" Alicia asked.

"No way!" Alice said, "What if that is what the enemy is aiming for?"

"Well we can't just leave Luna and the others there! Who knows what they're going through right now?" Alicia retorted.

"If we just rush in without a plan then we'll be falling right into their hands, it won't be any better at all," Alice argued.

"That's enough you two," Mason said sternly, "we're not going to leave Luna and her team behind. We don't do that with anyone, that's why command has a plan. The Confederacy have contacted us and they're going to give all the prisoners they have in exchange for ours," as the squad muttered amongst themselves.

"So it's a prisoner exchange," Daniel said with a frown, "even I can tell that this is a set up."

"Indeed it is especially since the location is quite close to the Confederacy's main army, no doubt they are thinking that they can attack us once all the prisoners had been exchanged and ambush us. Killing two birds with one stone," Mason said as he bit his nails in frustration, it was a percarious situation and Louise couldn't see how they would be able to get away with this situation short of another rescue mission, or fighting the Confederacy when they got the prisoners.

"So then what's the plan?" Daniel asked.

"For now squad 13 will spearhead this since they're our men though we'll have support from the 4th squad as well," as no one protested this time, it was their men being taken and they would not have any of the other squads have it. "A sniper is a must in this situation, to take down any hidden threats that might occur in this exchange, the exchange location is a rocky terrain over a chasm and the prisoners will be exchanged on a bridge. No doubt they plan on cutting the bridge as soon as they got their prisoners out, so we need to move fast. As soon as we got the prisoners then we need to run like hell to safe ground before they can do anything funny."

"Well if you're asking for volunteers then count me in," Robert said, "although your sister might have been a pain especially for me...she's a good sergeant and I wouldn't have anyone else, plus she still owes me for losing in poker," as the squad laughed.

"Alright well that's a sniper down, any other snipers want to volunteer then come speak to me soon, I'm going to need someone now to go on the bridge and take back the prisoners. I can't since I'm the CO for this operation and the message said that no officer is to take the prisoners, only enlisted men, it needs to be someone who can work under pressure and is not scared of heights. There's also the chance that you might die, we will try everything under our power to not let that happen, however anything is possible and therefore...I cannot ask you to sacrifice your life for the others but it's going to take some major guts for this.

Louise looked around her as she wondered who would volunteer for this, although all of them were ready to protect and fight for their friends going into a situation where death was a high possibility was asking a little bit too much of people. Louise herself would have volunteered for it, however with her eye and the fact that it would be disorienting with her depth perception it was just asking for a disaster as she cursed her uselesness. "I'll go," a voice said as Louise turned to see that it was Alicia who had volunteered for it.

"You would go Alicia?" Mason asked as she nodded, "Alright then, I thank you for that I really do, now who wants to accompany me and defend the rear if things get hairy? I can't take everyone as that would be too suspicious so those that aren't coming will be in reserve."

This one Louise would be able to take, although she would have a little bit more time to truly orient herself with actually fighting this would be as good as any time to test herself to the limit. She immediately raised her hand as Mason looked over her for a moment before nodding, "Alright Louise you're up, who else wants to go?" as Alexander's hand came up naturally...it seemed that wherever Louise went so did Alexander...but then again no one can deny that they make a great team. Louise then saw Claudia's hand go up as she caught her eye as she winked at Louise making her frown, she hoped that she wouldn't compromise this mission all for the sake of one upping her. And then surprisingly Suzie's hand went up as Suzie smiled shyly at Louise as she nodded back in return. "Alright then, be ready to move out in 3 hours let's get our guys everyone," as squad 13 cheered, "oh Louise could you stay back I need to talk to you," as Louise looked at Mason in wonder but nodded.

After everyone had left it was just Louise and Mason as the two of them sat down, "Louise about the mission...are you sure you want to go with me?" he asked.

"What are you talking about? This is Luna we're talking about of course I would want to go, we might have had our differences but it doesn't change the fact that she's my comrade and I want to save her and all the others as well," Louise said.

"I know it's just..." Mason said rubbing his hands nervously, "you don't have to prove yourself to us, we know-"

"If you think I decided to join just to prove that I'm still the same, if not better, then uninjured soldiers then you're wrong. This injury," Louise said as she touched the eyepatch, "this injury will be part of me for the rest of my life. I will need to learn to live with that, but it doesn't change me at all...I just become stronger and better then before, this isn't about me proving myself to anyone or anything like that. I truly want to go in order to rescue Luna and the others, if I become weaker then I was before then I'll accept that and strive to become stronger and if it makes me stronger then before then I'll continue to improve myself because of that."

Mason nodded slowly, "I see...I had a feeling it might be that but I just had to make sure, I'm sorry I doubted you Louise...you're the best scout we, no the military, has ever seen in a long time. You and Alexander are truly the best."

"I'm sure there are others as well," Louise said as Mason nodded, "is that all sir?"

"That will be all, get ready to move out soon," Mason said as Louise saluted to him and left the room. She then went and looked for Claudia as Louise then saw Claudia chatting away with some of the other soldiers as she made a beeline for her. She needed to get this settled with her right now before it became a big, if not fatal, problem as she grabbed Claudia, "Need a word with you," she said before dragging her out to the corridor.

"Huh? Hey Louise what's up?" Claudia asked as Louise crossed her arm and looked Claudia dead in the eye, not an easy feat considering she was taller then her.

"Look I know that you want to be my rival and I know that some of the soldiers are a bit competitive and I don't mind that," Louise began, "I don't mind if you call yourself my rival and try to one-up me with whatever you want, I don't really care about it to be honest. However I just want to make one thing very clear: our 'competition' won't get in the way of any mission, I don't want you stuffing things up just so you can act better them me got it? If we're on a mission I don't want you to act and try to look better then me, I won't compromise the safety of my friends and the mission all for some stupid thing."

Claudia blinked a couple of times before she laughed at Louise, "Y-you think I would be trying to do that?" she asked.

"Isn't that why you volunteered when I put my hand up?" Louise asked.

"No, no. Well yes that is part of the reason, but my main one was that I just wanted to help," Claudia said, "look Louise I know what I said about you being my rival and vice-versa however I also know that this is a war and people die. I'm not going to act like a hero and compromise the mission…I'm not going to have anyone else die in front of me…"

"Huh? What was that?" Louise asked not quite hearing the last part.

"Oh nothing," Claudia said with a smile, "look just don't you worry about it Louise. I know where things stand, besides…there's plenty of time for me to compete with you," as Louise was surprised by how mature Claudia was as she felt embarrassed that she even considered what she considered.

"O-oh…okay I-I'm sorry I suspected you but everyone in squad 13…they're…they're my family almost," Louise stammered.

"I know," Claudia said, "I understand, trust me I do, let's try to get them home okay?" as Claudia left Louise before she felt someone hugging her from behind, the smell of soft perfume instantly let her know who it was.

"Louise~ how are you?" Suzie asked as Louise smiled softly.

"Hi Suzie, what are you doing?" Louise asked as Suzie released her as she turned to see a red-faced Suzie there.

"N-nothing much," she said, "I was just looking for you. What were you talking about with Claudia?"

"Just clearing a misunderstanding," Louise said, "hey Suzie…you really sure you want to volunteer to be at the frontline?"

"Huh? Oh you mean going with you? Sure of course," Suzie said.

"You don't need to force yourself if you don't want to, I'll make sure that no one-" Louise began.

"No I really do want to Louise because…because I want to prove to myself that I'm going to change, what better time to prove to myself then now right? And…"

"And?"

"N-nothing it's nothing," Suzie said before running off, "I'll see you later Louise!"

"Hey wait!" Louise said but Suzie was already gone, "geez that girl can run fast."

"Well I suppose she's just nervous being around you," Alexander said.

"I guess," Louise said, "I just hope she doesn't kill herself because of me…that would suck big time."

"Well she's stubborn I'll give her that," Alexander said before he looked at her, "so ready to go?"

"No time like the present, anything else I should do before going off? Any special mountain equipment?" Louise asked.

"Haha nothing like that," Alexander said, "just the clothes on your back and your trusty rifle."

"Let's not forget my trusty scarf," Louise said tightening it, "oh yeah I should thank your mother for fixing it up, I'm sure it must've been a mess."

"Well it was, but my mother always did enjoy a good challenge," Alexander said as Louise nodded, "come on the truck should be here by now."

"Yeah, let's go and rescue them," Louise said.

The prisoner exchange was indeed in a mountainous area, there were mountains on all side wherever Louise looked and he could see deep chasms that looked like black abysses making her a little bit scared as a single bridge was the only thing connecting the two sides as Louise could see the white armour of the Confederacy shining beneath the sun though she couldn't see if Luna and the others were with them or not. She turned to see the prisoners there, eager to return back to their own ranks, as Louise felt a little bit nervous about the whole thing she also saw Mason and Alicia quietly discussing the plan while Suzie, Claudia and Alexander were positioned at the bridge looking out to the Confederacy. "You think this is going to work?" Louise asked on the radio to Robert as he was positioned in a vantage point looking out to the other side.

"Well I'm sure our great lieutenant has a plan, he always has a plan," Robert said.

"Any sight of Luna's team?" Louise asked.

"No sign of them, they must be in the APC up ahead," Robert said, "I can see an officer next to it though; I suppose that's their CO."

"Alright well…it's nearly time," Louise said checking her military-issued watch, "are you ready Robert?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, I'm just making sure no one's got any bright ideas before we got _our_ men to safe ground," Robert replied.

"Be careful of an enemy sniper, I'm sure we're not the only one that has a sniper hidden somewhere," Louise warned feeling even more nervous now because the likelihood of an enemy sniper was high. To die before knowing you were going to be killed was a scary thought, but Louise tried to not let that get to her as she took deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Don't worry, I'm on the lookout for it, trust me on that," Robert said.

"Well you never do miss out on a sale so I guess I can trust you," Louise said teasingly.

"Show time," Robert announced as the prisoners were hauled off the truck as Alicia led them as Suzie, Claudia and Alexander drew their guns while Mason stood back as Louise took her position, "good luck."

"Same to you," Louise said as she took deep breaths as the prisoners were on the bridge with Alicia behind them as a Confederacy soldier led the other side.

"I see them," Robert said, "they seem to be in good shape," as Louise sighed in relief, at least nothing bad happened to them…at least physically as she hoped that Luna wasn't too traumatised by this. Fearing death was one thing, but being held captive was another thing; she then kept her rifle ready as the two parties met on the centre of the bridge as the prisoners were exchanged, the moment Alicia got the others they ran back as fast as possible. "Damn it they're already starting to cut the rope!" Robert exclaimed as everyone shifted, "Lieutenant I need orders."

"Stop him," Mason said, "stop him now!" as Robert fired as a loud bang echoed throughout the mountain as the Confederacy retaliated by firing as well, though due to the distance they mostly missed before Robert then cried out in pain.

"Robert!" Louise called out.

"I'm hit," Robert groaned, "goddamn it I'm hit!"

"Mason what do we do now?" Louise asked.

"Provide supressing fire until Alicia get here, 4th squad commence artillery support," Mason said as there was a whistling sound before mortar shells landed on the other side of the bridge as the Confederacy were bombarded by the mortars that the 4th squad were providing. Louise grinned, it seemed that Mason's plan would work after all. He expected that the Confederacy wouldn't give up their hostages so easily just for some troops so they must have had a plan and therefore he had the 4th squad ready to support them.

Alicia finally got everyone to safe ground as Luna and the others were shuttled to the truck before it sped away, "Alright rear team provide some cover while we make our escape," Mason said as the rear team consisting of those that volunteered jumped into action as they shot at the approaching troops. The bridge served as a kill zone since it was the only way that the Confederacy could get to them and so it was a simple task of making sure that they didn't get to their position. Louise fired her rifle as the rear team began to fall back, they weren't looking to completely wipe out the Confederacy but just stall them long enough for Mason to make his escape before an APC would come to pick them up.

"What about Robert?" Suzie asked.

"4th squad's already got him, I heard it on the radio," Louise said as she then saw a dot on the sky, at first she thought it was a bird. But then it got closer and closer to them and it seemed to be aiming straight for Alexander, "Alexander look out! Dive! Dive!" Louise said as Alexander looked at her before diving to the side just as a golden-armoured soldier with a giant lance pierced the ground where Alexander was. He had a jetpack on him as they gaped at it as the soldier took that chance to try to kill Alexander as he rolled away from it as Louise and others fired their weapons at it, but the armour was strong enough to shrug them off as Louise gritted her teeth. "Mason we need help! They have some sort of new soldier, our rifles can't do anything to it, we need anti-armour assistance."

"I'll be there soon, can you escape?" Mason asked.

"Hopefully," Louise said as she gestured for the others to follow her as the soldier activated his jet again as he jumped to the sky before descending quickly as Louise was barely able to dodge the lance, "damn it, he's really persistent."

"I've never heard of this kind of soldier, is it some sort of new technology?" Claudia asked.

"Probably…in which case we're all in trouble," Louise said as they could slow him down with their guns, but other then that they were powerless against it as Suzie tripped on a stone as she fell. "Suzie!" Louise cried out before aiding her and getting her along as the soldier then tackled her as she fell to the floor as he towered above her his lance pointing at her body. _Damn…don't tell me I really am going to die now? That sucks…that really sucks Alexander, Suzie, everyone…I'm sorry I couldn't protect you guys longer_ Louise thought to herself as the lance descended as she closed her eye and prepared for the end.

A loud shot then echoed as the burning pain never came Louise opened her eye to see a hole on the soldier's head as he fell back with a bang as she panted, who was it that shot the soldier and killed him? She turned around to see only Suzie, Claudia and Alexander there, "W-who?" Louise asked.

"A sniper from the 4th squad," Mason said approaching her as more soldiers arrived, "come on talk later guys we gotta get out of here before more of those guys show up," as Louise nodded taking one last look at the deceased soldier before getting on the APC as they drove away. They all then sighed with relief as the mission was a success and nobody was killed as Louise closed her eyes and tried to get rid of the image of the towering soldier and his lance. She had been terrified when that happened, it was the first time that she almost die on the battlefield while still conscious, it terrified her just as it terrified her when she lost her eye. She put a hand over her eye to calm herself down but the image still persisted as she then felt someone touch her as she yelped only to see that it was Alexander.

"You weren't responding when I called you, are you alright Louise?" Alexander asked.

"Y-yeah, just a little frightened that's all…the lancer that is," Louise said.

"I know, I was scared too," Alexander replied, "good thing for that sniper huh?"

"Yeah I gotta thank him when I see him," Louise said, "we've arrived?"

"Yep," Alexander said as the two of them disembarked from the APC as Luna and the others were being questioned and checked as Louise went up to her, Luna looked okay other then shaking from head to foot as she took deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Hey Luna, how are you feeling?" Louise asked as Luna looked up to her.

"Hey Louise…fine I guess…can't believe I got caught by the enemy, sounds silly huh? The rescuer needing rescue," Luna said as Louise sat next to her and hugged her.

"Of course not, it's natural in war that this should happen, they didn't hurt you did they?" Louise asked.

"No, they treated us like prisoners but they didn't hurt us…it seemed that they really wanted to get those men back. The request for aid was fake of course, don't know how command missed that, but…" Luna said as she leaned her head to Louise's shoulder, "I'm glad you came for me, all of you."

"Of course that's what comrades are for," Louise said, "speaking of which I have to thank my own rescuer, I'll see you later," as Luna nodded as Louise looked around for someone in squad 2 who might be a sniper as she then heard a familiar voice.

"Well if it isn't the 'zero'," as Louise's eyes widened as she turned to see a flaming red haired girl, a blue haired girl and a blonde haired boy.

"N-no way…" Louise said in disbelief, it couldn't be true, "Kirche, Tabitha and Guiche? You're here!"

"Yo," Kirche said with a smile.

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**Yep! I decided to add in Kirche, Guiche and Tabitha in the story. They'll be the main characters though the focus will still be on Louise. Let's see how she reacts towards them!**


	12. Chapter 11: Old Friends, Old Enemies

**Hi everyone it's time for the next chapter! I was very happy when I had a lot of reviews for my last chapter, I hope I get just as many reviews. I hope you will enjoy this chapter and I would appreciate any feedback given to me. Until next time.**

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"My, my, my I didn't expect to see you here Valliere," Kirche said.

"I should be saying that," Louise said, "I didn't expect anyone else to be here. H-how did you even arrive in this world?"

"Portal," Tabitha replied.

"Portal huh? Same as me," Louise said before she perked up, "how long have you guys been in this world?"

"About two months," Kirche said, "you've been here for more then 6 months right? Yeah I remember the school throwing a ruckus when they couldn't find you never did I expect to find you here of all places."

"So I've been gone that long huh?" Louise said, "H-how's my family?"

"How do you think they are? They're worried about you," Kirche replied, "your sister Cattleya fainted when she heard that you just vanished," as Louise's heart felt like it was going to burst as she looked down, "well she's better now," Kirche quickly added, "but you know..."

"Yeah..." Louise said, "however I never expected you lot to be enlisted in the militia."

"You can thank Gramont for that," Kirche growled, "if it wasn't for him flirting with a lady the minute we arrived here we could've avoided being conscripted into the militia."

"Well I can always expect you to be flirting around Guiche," Louise said ignoring Guiche's protest, "well I suppose you three are in the 4th squad?"

"Yep, I bagged myself a total hottie as my squad leader, he's so handsome and brave," Kirche said making Louise sighed, _Typical Zerbst _Louise thought to herself that girl could never keep her mind out of flirting with other men.

"Anyways I'm going to find someone that saved me in your squad so I guess I'll see you guys later," Louise said.

"You're looking at her," Kirche said patting Tabitha's head, "Tabitha here saved here when she saw you through her scope, quite a shock for her to see you here let me tell you that."

"That was you?" Louise asked before smiling, "Thanks Tabitha I owe you one."

"Wait...that's it?" Kirche asked while Louise blinked and looked at her, "You just _thank her_? You usually would've bragged about being able to handle the guy and don't need to be saved."

"I'm not that stupid, I know that I needed to be saved or else I would've..." Louise didn't say it as the others kept quite as well.

"So...you're a Private First Class huh? I suppose that means you've been here quite a while," Kirche said before pointing at the eyepatch, "what's up with the eyepatch though? Trying to look cool or something?" she grinned while Louise unconsciously touched it.

"I-it's nothing Kirche, it's nothing," Louise said making Kirche blinked surprised that Louise would act like this. "Well...has anyone else come here? Anyone from our world that is?"

"Not that we've seen so far," Kirche said brushing her hair away, "we've been too busy surviving and dodging bullets to be thinking about anything else."

"So I expect," Louise said as Kirche noticed the scarf.

"Nice scarf, did you buy that?" she asked making Louise blush, something that Kirche did not fail to notice as she grinned, "No...don't tell me...someone bought you that scarf? Oh man that's classic don't tell me it's your boyfriend," as Louise blushed even harder.

"H-he's not my boyfriend! He's just a great friend!" Louise said.

"Hmm...you know you could be right, after all who would want to go out with a zero like you?" Kirche asked as Louise bit her lip; she had completely forgotten that insult 'Louise the Zero' her old life before she joined the militia. She thought that she had completely forgotten about it, but apparently that wasn't true as the memories flooded back in again and the jeers and taunts of the student body echoed in her mind as Kirche's laughter accompanied them.

"I bet she's just as useless in her squad as she was back in the academy," Guiche said while he chuckled making Louise feel like her old self again, the one that could never do anything right, the one that cried at night asking for Brimir to give her strength. The one that felt she was truly a useless mage, the one that failed to do everything, she almost could've broken down but her training kept her in check as she stood straighter and kept her chin up.

"Excuse me, but I would ask you please don't insult my friend anymore," Alexander's voice cut in as Louise looked up to see him approaching them along with Suzie and Claudia.

"Who are you?" Kirche asked.

"Ah I would be Louise's 'great friend'," he replied with a smile as Kirche was surprised at that.

"You? Well...the Vaillere going out with a commoner? How they have fallen I'm sure your mother would be so proud of you," Kirche sneered as Louise felt anger bubbling inside of her.

"Hey he said to stop it," Claudia said, "and I'm also asking for you two to shut up."

Guiche looked at Claudia as he tilted his head, "Aren't you Claudia Clement? The 'star' of the 2nd squad? What are you doing here?"

"Transferred to the 13th squad," Claudia said, "I'm this girl's rival," patting Louise's head as the girl in question became slightly embarrassed.

"You? Being Valliere's rival?" Guiche said, "I'm sorry my lady, but I think you're greatly mistaken if you think you're up to be her rival. After all we personally knew her from the academy and your talents are greatly wasted on trying to compete against her, you'll just win every single time."

"Well I'm sure that can be proven in the future, however are you saying that _you're_ my equal?" Claudia asked.

"Of course not," Guiche said smoothly, "I'm just saying that there's other much more _capable_ candidates other then her."

"I think I can choose my rivals thank you," Claudia retorted, "besides I hate people like you, bullies that is, so bugger off and don't annoy Louise again."

"Yeah that's right!" Suzie said, "Don't annoy Louise or she'll get real mad!"

"Suzie," Louise groaned though she couldn't help, but smile on the inside, back home no one defended her at all. They were either the ones that were silent, or the ones that taunted her because of her lack of talent, she was always alone when facing them and she felt powerless because there was nothing she could do to stop them. However...right now there were three people who would defend Louise and fight with her, she felt more confident because of that, she felt empowered.

"Tch," Kirche tutted, "useless as always, can't even defend yourself. I wonder if you're of any use to the militia at all?"

"I think you should ask your own squad members how much they've heard of Louise, I'm sure they'll have a few stories to tell you," Alexander said.

"Really?" Kirche asked her voice laced with curiosity.

"Now perhaps it's time we go now," Alexander said, "squad 13 is leaving now, I think you should go back too. It's a pleasure to meet you I hope we never meet again," as he grabbed Louise's arm before half-dragging her away from them.

"Just like always, that girl can never do anything," Guiche said.

"I'm not so sure..." Kirche said, "did you see squad 13 when those three arrived?"

"Huh? No not really," Guiche said as Kirche glanced back as she was met with cold glares from the squad members while others were patting Louise on the back and talking to her.

"I think we should take his advice and not talk to Valliere again...though I am curious as to what kind of 'stories' is surrounding her," Kirche said.

"You can't be serious!" Guiche said, "She's useless, she can't-"

"It's been more then 6 months since Valliere vanished from our world, who knows how much she changed."

"From what I saw there not much," Guiche said as Tabitha remained silent. Deep inside the spectacled girl was also thinking the same line as Kirche, perhaps Louise had changed, then why did she froze when she met them? Was it because of shock? That was understandable since most likely Louise never expected to meet anyone from her world never mind three who she knew personally. Was it possible that Louise had changed? She had heard a few fleeting rumours about a 'pink-haired heroine' who supposedly blew up a heavy tank at the Siege of Barton. Whether that was indeed Louise or not remained to be seen though how many girls had pink hair? Tabitha wasn't worried, she had always admired Louise for her tenacity, if not stubbornness, at attempting to become better then she was before. Therefore if things went south then perhaps she could transfer to Louise's squad though most likely she would have a somewhat cold reception from the other members as she associated with Kirche and Guiche as she inwardly sigh. Sometimes those two can really be idiots.

After being pampered and asked if they were bothering her by the squad Louise managed to escape them by hiding in a tent as she sat down, she was still in shock that she had met those three, that meant that perhaps there was a chance that other people from her world would arrive here. Perhaps there was even a way back! _No don't get ahead of yourself Louise...there's probably no way back, it could be a one-way portal_ Louise's mind said as Louise felt down again...even if there was a way back would she be willing to go back? Here she was treated like herself, not a zero, she was well liked by the squad while back home she was detested and scorned at. Here even though she was in a war at least she wasn't useless and she could do something to help the squad. Yet Kirche's word still cut into her heart, no matter what happened she would always be 'Louise the Zero' to the eyes of Halkagenia mages and people alike.

She could never become the Louise of this world and that wounded her heart as she sobbed and cried as the wound was very painful, she then felt Alexander hug her as she cried into him, the only person who understood her and knew the truth about her. "People you know from your world?" he asked.

Louise nodded, "Yeah from the academy," she replied, "I never thought I would actually see them again."

"Wanna talk about it?" Alexander asked, "You never really talked about your world before..."

"Because it was too painful to talk about it," Louise said as she wiped her eyes, "but I guess right now is as good as any." Louise then explained to Alexander all about her world, about magic, the nobility and commoners, the environment and most importantly the academy. She told him the lessons, the spells that were casted, the fact that she was unable to do magic and was scorned because of that, her innate ability to do cause explosions with even the simplest of magic, her nickname and her marriage to Wardes. After she finished explaining everything she felt as though a heavy burden had been released from her as she gave a big sigh as she felt tired all of a sudden, "So there you have it...my entire life in my world...such a big difference huh?"

"Well if we're talking about my world and yours certainly, magic? That would be such an exciting thing to happen though the relationship between the nobility and commoners isn't that much different though I suppose it's a bit better since your nobility doesn't bully the commoners. However...I think there isn't much difference in you Louise. You might have been unable to do magic and was scorned because of that, however that's no different then what happened to Suzie," Alexander said.

"That's why I defended her, I didn't want anyone else to be an outcast because of something they can't do, I absolutely hate that," Louise said.

"And you've earned many friends because of that...the whole squad have admired you for your courage in standing up to them. Although there are some who still dislike you for that, those that transferred here are those that have been inspired by you and your words. Word spread quickly about you not caring about the no cowardice policy, a lot of people really admired you for that," Alexander said, "I think you shouldn't think too much about those three I doubt we'll see them again and if they try transferring to squad 13 well...I'm sure everyone will make sure they don't trouble you."

Louise smiled when she heard that as she nodded, "Thank you Alexander for coming to defend me, I really appreciated that," she murmured to him.

"Of course, you are my precious friend Louise, nobody could replace you," he replied as Louise snuggled closer to him.

"Hey Alexander," Louise said.

"Hmm?"

"Want to go out to dinner once we arrive at the capital? I think there's a good restaurant in the 3rd district that I passed the other day."

"Sure, perhaps we could invite Suzie and Claudia."

"Yeah that would be fun...really fun and...do you think I've gotten stronger?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course you have. You're Louise Valliere, the 'Heroine of Barton', I think that's a big improvement from your last name."

"Just checking."

A week passed by as squad 13 were sent on various missions afterwards, Luna was recuperating from her trauma of being captured and although she continually said that she was fine Louise could tell that she was anything but. In response Louise and Alexander had been visiting Luna at the hospital every time they were back in the capital and talked to her about all sorts of things, supporting her emotionally as Luna sometimes had nightmares. Dr Marina said that it might take a while for Luna to recover from this shock, so Alexander and Louise vowed to be there for Luna once she was all better as Luna and Louise became better friends because of that. The squad was then called into the barracks to discuss the latest case of new units popping up all over the battlefield, notably the one that almost killed Louise back in the mountains, "So the Confederacy are bringing in new units? I don't know rather to be flattered or to be scared," Robert said with a grin.

"Yes it could mean that the Confederacy is taking much longer then they anticipated about subjugating us, however it also means that the missions are going to get much more dangerous. The particular unit that Louise's team encountered in the mountains have been dubbed 'Angels' because of their ability to fly, now they can't fly indefinitely but they can fly for at least 10 minutes straight before using their lances to pierce through infantry, they can also dash long distances making them dangerous adversaries. Their heavy armour is also a problem and therefore the bullets that we use have been upgraded. It's now anti-armour bullets and they can penetrate through the Angels armour and light vehicles as well and squad 13's got the first batch as a test trial." The squad cheered when they heard that as Mason nodded, "Yes, yes that's all well and good but because of that we got hand-picked by this mission by command," as the squad fell silent, "we're to take out a forward base in the Ashfield Forest, that base is a problem because it allows armies to rearm before taking out our own forward bases so we need to take out that base ASAP."

"Are there any tanks or anything like that over there?" Daniel asked.

"Thankfully there aren't, the forest prevents armour from rolling down there though there are Angels hence why we're going with the 4th squad in support," as Louise felt a lump in her throat as the squad became restless, "so the plan is to have the 4th squad distract the base forces while we go and sneak up on them. We plan on having the forces completely disoriented so that they won't be able to mount a proper defence and we destroy that base with as little casualties as possible," Mason said clapping his hand, "alright that's it everyone get ready to move out soon."

After the squad had dispersed Mason pulled Louise back again as he asked if she was alright with this mission, "I know that you have problem with those three guys from before, I asked around and apparently no one knows much about them, do you know them?"

"Yeah I knew them...from my time in the academy," Louise said.

"Well maybe they have a record of them somewhere," Mason said.

"Ah it's not from Belfast, I mean another academy far away," Louise said since Mason would find nothing if he searched the Belfast academy and that would raise some flags.

He blinked at her before nodding, "Is that so? Well if you say so, but Louise just know that if they give you problems during the mission then come to us. We'll sort it out with them."

"Of course," Louise said before leaving the room. Claudia and Alexander was there with a look of concern on their faces, "It's fine guys, I'll deal with them, they're not that much of a bully...me and Zerbest, I mean Kirche the red hair girl with the big bust, were rivals back home...I guess that's why she keeps taunting me and all that."

"Well even if she was your rival she didn't need to be so mean to you, and what about that blonde haired guy? Just looking at him give me the creeps," Claudia said.

"Guiche? Yeah...to be honest I'm surprised he was able to last this long, guy's a coward," Louise said as she wondered how Guiche had been able to survive this long in a battle. Maybe he hadn't been fighting yet? Or maybe he has and he's gotten over it? No not likely considering what he was like in the academy.

"Really? Well he's going to have a mighty time adjusting to the militia," Claudia said, "but I've gotten your back Louise, since _I'm_ your real rival and no one else is going to take that position from me."

"Haha...alright then," Louise chuckled as Alexander nodded.

"And you always have mine," as Louise nodded.

"Alright then you two lets get this show on the road, by the way who's second-in-command with Luna out of the way?" Louise asked curiously.

"Well that would be the next highest ranking soldier which is a Corporal and that's...actually who is the Corporal?" Claudia asked as Alexander shrugged.

"I don't think we have one, there aren't a lot of veteran soldiers in our squad and those that are transferred to other units for one reason or another," Alexander said as Louise sighed, "so that means...well I think command would give us a Corporal then until Luna recovers or Mason would make something up, it's always the squad's commander's decision on what will happen in the squad."

"How about you Claudia? Were you the second-in-command in your old squad?" Louise asked.

"Who me? Nah, it was some old guy called Dirk who was second-in-command, he was such a nosy guy asking us what life was like for us and all that," Claudia said.

"Ah I see," Louise said, "well I'm hoping Luna gets better real soon, I rather have her as the squad's second-in-command then some other replacement."

The Ashfield Forest was a beautiful forest with great trees and animals as Louise found herself enthralled by the forest as she had never seen anything so beautiful in her life, even the forest in Tristain paled in comparison to the beauty right in front of her, she couldn't stop smiling the entire trip as Alexander pointed her out to interesting trees and animals. "Wow Alexander you're really knowledgeable about this," she said.

"Well there was a big forest in my hometown so I'm quite familiar with the flora and fauna, the two forests are quite similar," Alexander said as he picked up a squirrel and poked its head as he smiled before sending it on its way, "was there any forest back home Louise?" he asked.

"Yep, but it's not as big as the forest around here...and not as beautiful either," Louise said.

"Alright here's the ridge, down there is the forwarding base," Mason said peering through his binoculuar, "now all we need to do is wait for the 4th squad to attack the base and once they're fully engaged we'll go down and cause havoc down there."

"Alright I can't wait to smash them to pieces," Claudia said with a grin, "I've been meaning to kick some Angel butts since I've met one of them."

"Calm down Claudia," Suzie said, "we don't know if the bullet would even work."

"They wouldn't send us here if they didn't know that the bullets worked right Mason?" Louise asked as said person whistled not so innocently as Louise's eye twitched, "Right Lieutenant?" Louise repeated warningly as Mason continued to whistle. He then found himself with a sizeable lump on his head as he whined, "Damn it Mason! Are they useful or not?" Louise growled.

"Command doesn't know, they said that the bullets might penetrate the Angel's armour, but they're not 100% sure," Mason said.

"So they might not work at all?" Adrian asked, "Come on! Are we just their guniea pigs?" he wailed.

"But I have my complete hope for you all," Mason said with a grin and a thumbs up as Louise sighed hoplessly.

"Well it's no use backing out, we'll just have to hope and pray," Louise said.

"How could you be so carefree?" Adrian asked.

"Because it's orders, and like good soldiers we follow them," Louise said, "besides...in this forest area I think the Angels will have trouble navigating through it as well."

"There is that," Alicia said as the sound of gunfire and explosions cut in as Mason looked as he confirmed that the 4th squad was attacking the base head on and drawing fire from them. They waited for a while before Mason gave the order to charge into the enemy base with the Falcon spearheading the charge as the squad roared and easily flanked the enemy as a few Angels dashed towards the squad intending to skewer them, Louise rolled sideways to avoid being pierced, before she aimed her weapon and when the Angel skidded to a halt she pulled the trigger as the recoil from the gun was stronger then usual as her forehead hit the butt of the weapon. However true to command's word the bullet seemed to be of a stronger variety as the Angel was blown backwards and didn't get up again as Louise smiled at that as she concentrated back on the fight on hand. But although the bullets might have an effect on the angels, controlling the guns was a whole different story as the recoil was something that they were not told about, as Louise lost count how many times her head met the wood of her rifle as she was sure she was going to have a headache from all this head bashing. It was worse for the Stormtroopers as they completely lost control of their machine guns, with Alicia spectacularly nearly shooting the entire squad when she lost control of her gun before it ran out of bullets to fire as she dizzily spun around.

"At this point we'll be killed to friendly fire then the enemy killing us!" Adrian shouted when he dodged one of the Stormtrooper's bullets before firing on the enemy as he was knocked backwards by the recoil.

"Stormtroopers retreat to the side and spread out firing anything but make sure to check your scope, riflemens you're in the lead now since you have better control, make sure that you keep on pressing the attack. That way the Stormtroopers can continue on fighting while not hitting any of us and we can keep pressuring them, we're nearly there guys!" Mason said as the squad spread out with the riflemen accompanying the Falcon as more Angels came out and attempted to fight back against the tide. One Angel missed its target, but then switched to melee combat as he used his lance to swat the riflemens away as Louise was swatted away easily as she smashed into a wall crying out in pain as black spots appeared on her vision as she groaned.

"Louise are you alright?" Alexander asked as the Angel's head was blown to pieces as Louise groggily stood up.

"Yeah, but I think we're gonna need a day to rest because this is going to hurt tomorrow," she said as Alexander brought her out of danger and behind the Falcon, "you go ahead I'll catch up with you," as Alexander nodded as he went back to the front of the battle as Louise rested to catch her breath briefly.

She then saw Elise falling backwards as she was scrambling away crying out in fear as Louise got up, she saw several Confederacy soldiers attacking as she cursed, how could they got past the Stormtroopers? She brought up her rifle as she fired at one of them blindly, luckily it hit the soldier as he fell down without a word, however his comrades kept up the pressure as they forced Louise to grab Elise and get to cover, "You alright Elise?" Louise asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm scared," Elise said as she was shaking.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of this, trust in me," Louise said as she continued firing at them as a couple more soldier came out. At this rate they weren't going to make it out as Louise pulled the pin on a grenade before throwing it at them. The grenade exploded as it sent the enemy squads backwards as Alexander and Claudia returned to back Louise up as the squad was then taken cared of.

"Damn you are one unlucky soldier you know that? Why does everything seem to happen to you?" Claudia asked.

"Maybe cause I'm a heroine," Louise said though she had never felt more fear then before, it was the same kind of fear as she felt when she was nearly killed by that Angel, was she really that unlucky? Was it some sort of message that she made the wrong decision? She shook her head, that was silly she couldn't have made the wrong decision in rejoining the squad, she wouldn't have it any other way. "What are you doing here Claudia? I thought you were on the side," Louise said.

"Well...I was feeling kind of bored since there was no one up my end so I thought I might as well come see you," Claudia grinned.

"Oh come on Claudia, maybe that's how the Confederacy got to our rear in the first place," Louise snapped angrily.

"Hey easy, I don't think there was any Confederacy soldiers up my end," Claudia said defensively as Louise gritted her teeth and went back to the frontline as Claudia looked at Alexander, "what's her problem?"

"Hmm...I guess just a little bit of fear," Alexander said before going to the frontline as well, by now the base was all but destroyed as the remaining Confederacy soldiers had surrendered. The 2nd and 4th squad converged in the middle as they stripped any weapons that the Confederacy had to take back to the capital, any enemy weapons that can be used were to be used, and of course if they found any information pertaining to the enemy that was highly sought after as well. Louise was sitting down on one of the crates as she was looking at the aftermath, all in all she was quite happy with what happened as she believed that the plan went off wonderfully. She had to admit that it felt quite good though she was a little bit angry at Claudia, but not as much as before, maybe she was wrong about the whole thing? Maybe it wasn't Claudia's fault? Now she felt bad and she was thinking about apologising to her.

"Hey Louise," Claudia said coming to her as she tried to act natural.

"Oh hi Claudia what's up?" she asked.

"Uhm...about before...I don't know what it was that ticked you off, but-" Claudia said.

"No I should be the one saying sorry, I got mad at you without any reason at all, I shouldn't have done that," Louise said.

"O-oh that...well alright that's ok...I was actually going to tell you the same thing," Claudia said, "it wasn't fair of me to disobey orders like that. I mean I could've aided someone else or something like that, I just...I felt bored if I don't do anything, ya see I'm always the active type of person and if I feel I'm not doing anything I get kind of annoyed and antsy."

"I understand...it's hard isn't it? To not do anything while others might be dying, I can understand that...I felt the same thing too when I was stuck in bed," Louise said.

"Yeah...well now that's cleared up how many enemies did you bag?" Claudia asked with a grin.

"I don't do that Claudia, I told you that countless times," Louise said brushing her hair away.

"Come on, if we don't compare kills how am I supposed to know I'm better then you?" Claudia whined.

"You'll think of something," Louise said as she felt her left eye itch again as she cursed and rubbed it, naturally that only made it even worse.

"Your left eye again?" Claudia asked.

"Yeah...it itches from time to time, not as much as before though," Louise said.

"You should put some water on it, got a guy who lost an eye like you and he says water helps a lot, make sure it's clean though or it'll get infected," Claudia said as Louise nodded.

"I think I might do that," Louise said as she got off the crate and walked to the base's water supply, base waters are always clean due to hygiene issues so at least Louise could count on that. Taking off her eyepatch she cupped some of the water and splashed it on her eyes feeling the itch dull away instantly as she sighed in relief, she might need to talk to Dr Marina about getting something for when she's on the field, she splashed some more water on her eye before feeling okay.

The itch was gone, but she could still feel it as she grumbled to herself, the itch was annoying and on the battlefield she didn't have the luxury of having to take care of it. Maybe Dr Marina can help her again in that regard, she was so preoccupied by her eye she didn't notice anyone closing on her. She then felt a pair of strong arms grab her neck, making her unable to cry out, before it began choking her as she gasped for air; it was no doubt a survivor of the base assault as she tried to fight back but with her small frame there wasn't much she could do. It wouldn't be long before she lost consciousness completely and it would be a while if anyone, if ever, came to check on Louise as she desperately tried to fight him off as her vision began to dim and she lost her strength again.

Just when she was about to completely black out the soldier groaned before she felt herself being released as she coughed violently as she take gulps of air, weakened by the oxygen deprivation she turned to see Kirche, Guiche and Tabitha standing over her as the soldier was clutching his head, "We were wondering where you were," Kirche said, "we thought you were hiding away in some place like usual, didn't think you would actually hide away here."

"Shut up Zerbst," Louise growled as she panted and took a deep breath again, "just shut up."

"So how does your squad ever tolerate you? I mean you must know that they have a 'no cowardice' policy right? You should've been kicked out of the squad long ago if this is how you react to every fight," Kirche said.

"I'm not in the mood Zerbst, just go back," Louise said.

"Is that how you thank your saviour? You should be kissing my feet for saving your worthless hide," Kirche said as Louise had to admit she had a point.

"I'll thank you for saving me," Louise said.

"Well that was almost too easy," Kirche said a bit disappointed, "I thought you would've spouted something about being able to take care of yourself in that situation."

"I'm not an idiot," Louise snapped.

"Well perhaps then you'll finally admit that a Valliere can never beat a Zerbst," Kirche said as Louise sighed, she really wasn't up for this now as she went and groped for her eyepatch as she clutched it in her hand.

"Come on Valliere just admit it! You're as useless in this world as you are in ours! You'll never be anything more then a zero! I bet those stories about you blowing up a heavy tank and losing your eye is false! They probably even got the wrong girl," Kirche snapped as Louise couldn't take it anymore as she stood up and slapped Kirche as she looked at Kirche straight in the eyes.

"Do you think this is untrue then?" Louise asked pointing to her injured left eye as Kirche gasped while Tabitha and Guiche gaped at Louise, "Do you think that this is nothing more then rumours? I've fought in this war longer then you Zerbst, I've seen and done things I otherwise would not have done, I've nearly died once, no thrice now, in this war...I don't care anymore what you think, but never say I am nothing more then a zero. I might have been that girl before, but in this world...in this world I'm someone else, a stronger Louise, a Louise that will never give up no matter the odds!" Feeling more frustrated then ever she put on her eyepatch again and left in a huff leaving the Helkeginia's mages in shock as Tabitha looked at Louise before quickly following her out.

"Louise," Tabitha quietly said as Louise turned to her.

"What?" she snapped.

"Sorry," Tabitha simply said as Louise blinked, she had never really interacted with the blue haired girl before mainly because she was always with Kirche. Louise had always thought that Tabitha was almost similar to Kirche because she didn't know how anyone could ever stand being around that Germanian girl yet alone being her friend. However it seemed that Tabitha was different then what she expected, "about your eye I mean..." she added.

"I-it's fine," Louise said, "I've gotten used to it...I guess you three are lucky you haven't suffered as I have, though I suppose that's because I'm just a zero right?"

"Not a zero," Tabitha said, "Heroine of Barton."

"Hmph...depends on who's asking," Louise said, "well...I suppose I'm in you guys debt again...I'm sure Kirche won't let that go anytime soon."

"Louise..." Tabitha interrupted, "would it be alright if...I join your squad?" as Louise was very surprised by this.

"W-what? Why?" Louise asked.

"Interested in you...I want to see you grow," Tabitha replied with a smile.

"I...I don't know what to say," Louise said, "are you sure? What about Kirche and Guiche?"

"They can come...if you want..." Tabitha said.

"I don't know Tabitha, I feel angry not because of what Zerbst said, but...of all the times they taunted me in the academy...I don't know if I can move on just yet...I'm sorry I sound pathetic don't I?" Louise said chuckling at the last part.

"No...I understand...come see me again when you're ready," Tabitha said as she then went back to snap Guiche and Kirche out of their rapture as Louise looked at the trio. She wondered if she would be able to be friends with them? Tabitha seemed nice enough, but whether she would be able to move past her animosity with Kirche was another matter altogether.

"Louise are you alright? We heard something over here," Suzie said as Louise looked at her and smiled.

"Just a soldier that tried to kill me," as Suzie gasped, "those three took care of it though."

"They didn't do anything to you did they?" Suzie asked, "If they did then I'm really gonna get mad at them."

"No they didn't," Louise said hugging the girl, "don't worry I'm Louise Valliere, Heroine of Barton."

"That's right!" Suzie said, "No one's gonna mess with you!" as Louise laughed alongside Suzie.


	13. Chapter 12: Relaxation in the Capital

**Hi everyone it's time for chapter 12. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and faved this story. I know that this story is longer than most of my chapters, but that's because I combined two chapters into one to make it flow better. I hope this is alright ^^ Hope you enjoy this chapter. Until then.**

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"Alright good work guys on that forward base assault, I'm really proud of everyone and although we had problems with the guns overall it went off smoothly," Mason said once everyone was back in the capital. "Because of that command's given us time off until the R&D department has fixed that small issue," as the squad cheered for that, they finally had much awaited time off since they had been busy going on missions to take a break after all the shooting and dodging bullets.

"Well that's a relief, I wasn't sure if I would be able to take another mission," Robert said.

"What did you do to deserve a break?" Alicia asked while Robert looked at her with an annoyed look.

"Well guess I can see the kids now then," Daniel said.

"How are they by the way Daniel?" Louise asked, she had heard a lot about Daniel's kids as he liked to talk about them and by the sound of it they were quite adorable.

"Well my youngest just started to walk," Daniel said with a smile, "the oldest is thinking about joining the militia, but I told him that he's better off helping his siblings and his mother. One person per family in the militia is enough thank you."

"That's wonderful Daniel," Louise said, "well tell them that I said hi."

"I sure will, and make sure you keep well too Louise," Daniel said patting her shoulder as Louise nodded.

"Well I guess I can hit the library then," Louise remarked.

"You always go to the library," Alicia commented, "do you go anywhere other then that?"

"Well I always do love reading, well studying I suppose, so the library's a perfect place for me to go to," Louise said, "and I've almost gone all over the capital by now. It's getting quite boring visiting the same place every single time and reading is much better."

"Be careful they might just hear you and put you to someplace far away," Alicia said.

"Then I'll follow Louise there!" Suzie declared.

"No one was asking you!" Alicia retorted making Louise smile before she turned to Alexander.

"I'm visiting my parents today," Alexander said before Louise could even get a word out as Louise laughed, they had spent so much time together that Alexander practically knew what she was going to ask before she even asked it.

"Alright then tell them I said hi," Louise said before leaving the squad barracks and began heading towards the capital's library. She was then approached by Elise, the 14 year old engineer had seemingly gone missing after the battle since Louise had been looking for her, "Oh hi Elise."

"Hi Louise," Elise said with a smile, "uhm...Louise I...I just want to thank you for back then..." as Louise nodded and smiled.

"That's alright Elise, I understand," Louise said patting the girl's head, "you don't have to apologise. I'm always happy to aid a squad member."

"I...I know...I heard all about you, before I joined up, you were really brave back at Barton and...and I want to be just like you!" as Louise remembered that Suzie was also inspired by Louise's actions and she wondered just how many people had truly been inspired by her words and actions? She had never given much thought to that at all, but now that she think about it perhaps she is an inspiration to people? That would be something to brighten her day.

"Why thank you Elise, that makes me really happy to hear that," Louise said making Elise smile.

"Hey Louise would you...would you want to go out with me? I-I mean take a walk or something like that," making Louise tilt her head.

"Sorry Elise, but I have plans today, I actually plan on enjoying myself and reading today. Perhaps even visit the hospital to have my check up, how about tomorrow if we're still on leave?" Louise suggested as Elise bopped her head up and down.

After leaving Elise, as she was called by Alice to come help her with something, she then went out of the barracks and began walking towards the library. She was looking forward to actually reading things, it was strange to think that she would be reading something other then magical scrolls, she had missed out on a whole lot more outside of magic. She was now well up-to-date with the history of the world, the famous events, and the technological advances of this world. If she was able to apply those technologies to her own world...the possibilities were endless...that is if she was able to get to her world in the first place. However this meant that she had lots to discuss with Alexander who seemed to be well-versed in other topics as well, Louise was beginning to wonder just how much did Alexander knew in terms of knowledge?

She felt quite refreshed while walking towards the library, after days of shooting at people, it was nice to finally unwind and relax, the day was good and the sun was shining down on them. She felt really happy that she was able to see this, she was very lucky to be able to see the beauty of the capital, however she could sense the tension around her. The people were getting more worried each day, wondering if the capital was going to be attacked as morale was slowly trickling with each defeat by the militia, true with each victory it was rekindled but eventually it would trickle down again. Louise wondered if there was something that she could do to help the military more, perhaps she could help out in the armoury or something like that.

Though with her small frame there wasn't much she could really do, which disappointed her a lot, the desire to want to help the militia was mainly because she had gotten used to this world; the world she was in right now was vastly different from Helkeginia since she didn't have to deal with magic every waking moment of her life. Ironic for a mage, but then again she was a mage that couldn't use magic so that didn't apply to her, rather she now thought herself as a soldier rather then a mage though she wondered if her magical powers still applied here. She had never dared to try her magic for fear of causing her trademark explosion, that would be a hell of an explanation, and she was happy that she never had to think about magic ever again.

A few minutes into the walk she began to notice that someone was following her, she felt eyes on her and a cold chill down her spine as she felt uncomfortable; it wasn't anyone she knew since if it was Suzie she would have just tackled Louise and Alexander would have approached her immediately. And besides whenever she looked behind she could just see a shadow hiding behind a tree or a wall as Louise frowned wondering who it could be as she decided to trap her stalker as she waited around the corner as someone then quickly followed her behind. She grabbed the person, "Hey what do you think you're doing following me around?" she asked.

"Incredible, as expected of the Heroine of Barton," as Louise saw that it was a little girl with blonde hair sighing when she saw that, _Another fan_ she thought to herself as she wondered how many people were her fans? "I knew that you would be able to catch me out sometime."

"Well I suppose so," Louise said, "so are you another one of my fan? You look too young to be in the militia so you're not a soldier..."

"True I might not be in the militia, but I'm just as involved in the military as any other soldier," the girl said, "my name is Elisia Cutler!" saying it in a way that Louise should know who she was as said pink-haired girl looked at her with a deadpanned look.

"Who?" Louise asked as Elisia fell flat on her face in surprise.

"Elisia Cutler! Cutler! Don't you know who the prestigious Cutler family is?" as Louise tried to think back on all her readings, the name did sound familiar but she couldn't place where she heard the name in the first place. "Hint...we're close to the current President's family," the girl said after a time before Louise got it.

"Oh so you're that Cutler family, the famous military family right?" Louise remarked

"Correct, we've been involved in the military for a long time and now we're working hard to make sure that Belfast remains standing!" Elisia said proudly.

"Well that's wonderful," Louise said, "but I'm already an enlisted militia soldier so I'm not sure what else I can do to help you...see you later, it was a pleasure to meet a Cutler," Louise said before Elisia pulled her in.

"Hold up a second I'm not done yet," Elisia said, "actually...I need your help with something."

"Huh? Me?" Louise asked as Elisia nodded.

"Yep, I need none other then the Heroine of Barton to help me out on this one," Elisia said, "do you accept it?"

"Well...what do you need help with? I think I should know that," Lousie said.

"It's a top-secret mission, I'll explain it later," Elisia said making Louise wonder if the girl really did have a top secret mission for her, if she accepted it and it turned out to be a waste of time then she would have wasted a day. But on the other hand if it really was a top-secret mission then Louise would really be in trouble if she refused it as she sighed and nodded, "Excellent follow me and make sure no one is following us," Elisia said.

Louise still didn't know what to make of this as she followed Elisia to a cafe where the two of them then sat down as Elisia was intently looking around the place, "Uhm...Miss Cutler-" Louise began.

"Call me by my codename," Elisia cut in.

"Your codename?" Louise questioned.

"Yeah didn't I tell you my codename?" as Louise shook her head, "it's X, X got it!"

"Y-yes Miss- I mean X," Louise said feeling a little bit silly about the whole codename thing, but kept playing it nonetheless.

"And your codename is...Pinky, that's right Pinky!" making Louise sighed even more, that was incredibly silly but she persisted as she then saw someone and hid behind the menu.

"W-who is it?" Louise asked.

"The target," Elisia said, "it's the target," as Louise casually looked back to see a tall blonde woman wearing a military uniform as Louise looked at her.

"Who is she?" Louise asked.

"She's a spy," Elisia said making Louise gasp.

"Eh? She's a spy? How do you know?" Louise asked.

"I don't have any concrete proof, but according to my sources that woman has been snooping around in places she's not supposed to be," Elisia said, "I'm certain that she's a spy for the enemy."

"Uh...then why haven't you told anyone if you're certain that she's a spy? I mean you are from the Cutler family right?" Louise asked.

"The spy has lots of contacts all over the place, if she gets a whiff of people looking for her she's going to run and we'll be in all sorts of strife," Elisia said.

"Ooh...is that so?" Louise asked as she now doubting whether or not the woman really was a spy or if Elisia was just playing with her.

"Ah she's on the move!" Elisia said as Louise turned to see that the woman was indeed on the move as Elisia was out of her chair and following her in an instant.

"Hey wait!" Louise called out before sighing and chasing her, the girl could really move fast when she wanted to, as the pair continued to follow the woman wherever she went. Taking on all sorts of disguises and hiding everywhere possible as Louise doubted with each passing moment that this was really a case of espionage or not. After two hours of continually stalking the woman she then went into a bookshop as Elisia gasped and told her that she must be meeting someone as Louise played along and simply nodded, _maybe this has been a waste of time...oh well if it's someone from the Cutler family I suppose I can't really refuse her. Don't want to cross anyone from that family that's for sure_ she thought to herself.

Moving in closer Louise was then surprised when she saw that the woman was talking to a suspicious looking character, she was dressed in a trench coat and had sunglasses covering her eyes and her face was covered by a scarf, "Suspicious isn't it?" Elisia asked as Louise had to admit that it was looking very suspicious, but she didn't dare encourage Elisia in case the girl did something reckless. But unfortunately luck was not on her side today as the woman then handed the suspicious looking woman a package as Elisia gasped, "That's it! They're exchanging confidential information! We must apprehend them now!" as she dashed off.

"H-hold on Elisia that's dangerous," Louise said as the girl didn't listen to Louise and burst into the bookshop. The blonde woman responded by grabbing for her sidearm, not an uncommon sight in military soldiers and officers alike, as Louise instinctively reacted by grabbing her own sidearm and drawing it, "Freeze!" she screamed her heart hammering as she didn't know how to react in a situation like this, throw her into a battlefield and she'll know what to do, but in a situation such as this? She was quite out of her territory. The blonde woman had a look of surprise on her face as she was then tackled by Elisia as the suspicious woman was frozen in place, "E-Elisa what are you doing?" Louise asked panickingly.

"I gotcha now!" Elisia said, seemingly oblivious to the whole situation.

"Elisia! What are you doing?" the blonde woman asked as she growled and picked the girl up with one hand, "You're a complete dolt you know that?"

"H-huh? W-what's going on?" Louise asked, did the blonde woman know Elisia?

"Damn it Elisia this is not funny, you've even pulled people into it now," the blonde woman said as Elisia poked her tongue out before she looked at Louise, "I apologise if my sister has caused you any trouble. I assure you that this is just part of her game."

"G-game?" Louise asked, "You mean...you're not a spy?" she asked.

"Of course not!" the blonde woman retorted, "How could I ever spy for Belfast? Oh...that eyepatch, pink hair, small body," as Louise became annoyed at the last part, "you're...you're Louise Valliere aren't you? The Heroine of Barton?"

"Yeah that's me," Louise said, "and you are..."

"Amanda Cutler, Colonel Amanda Cutler that is," as Lousie gaped, "I'm this little brat's older sister, and usually the one that cleans up her mess."

"Who you're calling a brat?" Elisia asked.

"I am!" Amanda shouted.

"So...what just happened?" Louise asked.

"My little sister thinks herself as an officer for the military, probably because of our family, as a result of that she plays these 'missions' that really are just games and she annoys me the most since I'm the one that keeps her in control," Amanda explained, "usually it's just her, but now I've seen her drag all sorts of people into it and this time you've even pulled someone like PFC Valliere into it."

"Is that so?" Louise asked as she realised that she had just wasted a day playing with Elisia as she didn't know whether to felt annoyed or angry.

"This was supposed to be your day off isn't it? I apologise for wasting it, I'll make sure to make it up to you," Amanda said.

"O-oh no don't worry," Louise said, "I don't mind...then...who's she?" Louise asked pointing to the suspicious woman.

"That is..." Amanda said hesitantly.

"It's alright," the woman said, "she can know," as the woman took off her sunglasses and hat. "My name is Eleanor Davidson."

"Davidson? As in President Davidson?" Louise asked shocked that the daughter of the ruling person would be here in front of her, it was like having Princess Henrietta in front of her as she could only gape like an idiot.

"That's correct, he's my father," Eleanor replied with a smile.

"The President is worried about his daughter with the war and all and he's kept her stuck in the palace since the start, however...occasionally she escapes and wanders around the capital. It's then my job to make sure that she's safe and brought back without any incident," Amanda replied.

"Ah I see," Louise said sighing as she put the gun back in its holster, "you had me worried there for a moment..."

"I truly do apologise, I think it's time that I end her game once and for all," Amanda said glaring at Elisia who was whistling away innocently.

"I've heard a lot about you Miss Valliere," Eleanor said, "what you did at Barton has been quite talked about in the palace. Belfast is very lucky to have someone like you."

"Ah...I'm only doing what the mission states," Louise said feeling a little bit embarrassed at being praised by the President's daughter.

"If only this war could end sooner then you wouldn't have suffered," Eleanor said as Louise touched her left eye as she smiled.

"It's not a problem Miss Davidson," Louise said, "although I wasn't fully expecting to lose my eye, I did know that I wouldn't come out of this war unscathed, I'm just lucky to be alive right now."

"Indeed," Eleanor said, "however this war is still very cruel...and I fear for my people...the longer it continues the more will suffer, the more sadness there will be," as she looked out the window. Louise was then reminded of Henrietta, she too wished an end to the war that was why she was going to marry some noble in Germania so that Germania would aid them when Albion attacked. Louise wondered if the marriage ceremony had already occurred and if Henrietta was happy with the one she was married to, she had sworn to her that when she was a capable mage she would serve alongside her but now she wasn't...it wounded her a lot as she felt frustrated at her own powers.

"Do not despair Miss Davidson," Louise said, "whatever happens as long as you support the people then the people will support you, if a ruler never gives up on his people then no matter what happens the people will support the ruler till the end. It is only when you have given up on the people that things go wrong...so...as long as you do not give up on them then the militia will support you."

"Such deep words Miss Valliere," Eleanor commented.

"I-I've just given it a lot of thought...and I read a lot of books too," Louise stammered as it would be quite difficult to explain how she was able to so deeply talk about politics.

"I see, you must really be a knowledgeable person," Eleanor remarked making Louise chuckle, "thank you though...for trying to cheer me up."

"It is my pleasure Miss Davidson," Louise replied.

"You're part of squad 13 correct? I have been meaning to ask them, but I'm throwing a party for all the militia squad. I'm inviting squad 13, but I haven't been able to get in touch with Lieutenant Terry at all," Eleanor said.

"He's probably visiting his sister," Louise said, "but thank you Miss Davidson, I'm sure a lot of people will be happy to hear that. I'll pass on the message."

"That's wonderful, I truly look forward to seeing all of squad 13, I've heard many things about them," Eleanor said before looking at Amanda, "I suppose I should go back to the palace now. I'll see you tonight okay?"

"W-wait let me come with you at least," Amanda said.

"Don't worry I'll be fine," Eleanor replied before exiting the shop.

"That girl," Amanda said with a sigh as she turned to Louise, "I'm sorry if she seemed a little strange to you."

"Huh? Oh no she's not strange at all, she seems quite nice in fact," Lousie said.

"The Cutler family has always served the Davidson as close allies, my siblings and me were close friends of Eleanor...she was always getting into trouble..." Amanda said as she then shook her head, "an-anyways I'll give you the details of the party tomorrow. Again I must apologise for my sister's behaviour and wasting your day," as Elisia chuckled nervously.

"It's okay, I'm actually quite glad I could meet both the President's daughter and two members of the Cutler family, I look forward to meeting you again soon," Louise said.

"You know...you really do talk in a strange way, almost...like a noble..." Amanda commented as Louise chuckled nervously. "Well we must part ways, good day Miss Valliere."

"And you too Colonel," Louise said saluting her.

"Eh! We're going to a party?" Alicia asked when Louise broke the news about what happened on that day as the squad began excitedly muttering amongst themselves, "Are you serious?"

"Yes, apparently it's a party to honour all those that have fought in the war and to allow the people to thank the military and militia for their work," Louise said, "Colonel Cutler wanted to talk to Mason but he's a little bit preoccupied at the moment right?"

"That's right, last I heard he was up with Luna making sure that she was alright to come back to the squad," Alexander said, "apparently the prognosis is quite good."

"That's good to hear," Louise said, "I'm really hoping that she comes back soon."

"Never mind that! We need to pick the dresses we're going to wear!" Alicia exclaimed, "If I had known we were going to a party I would've gone to Allen's Boutique and gotten something nice to wear, all I have are some scraped up clothes."

"Actually the dress code is quite formal, well in military terms that is, we're all to dress in our military clothes," Louise said.

"Eh~ that's so boring..." Alicia said, "I wanted to snag myself some good hottie and strike it rich!"

"Well..." Louise said hesitantly as Alexander sighed.

"When's the party?" Suzie asked.

"Tomorrow night," Louise said, "all the squads in the capital right now are invited and unless it's an emergency we're not going to be assigned any missions."

"Yay~ a day without missions is a good day for me," Alice said striking a V pose.

"I can't wait to get to the party, I expect there's going to be all sorts of dignitaries and important officials there right?" Elise exclaimed.

"Probably," Louise said, "though I'm not really happy in meeting them..."

"Ironic considering you're a noble," Alexander whispered to Louise.

"I just hate nobles that flaunt their authority haphazardly without any regard for the other party," Louise said.

"And of course a party wouldn't be complete without a dance right?" Claudia smirked, "There has to be a dance."

"Y-yeah there is a dance actually," Louise said sensing everyone's eyes on her and Alexander as Alicia smirked knowingly, "w-what?" she asked.

"Come on you know what we mean, you and Alexander are going to be dancing the night away in pure bliss," Alicia said.

"Yeah I mean it's obvious you two are so into each other," Claudia said.

"W-we're not!" Louise said blushing as Alexander merely smiled as usual, "Come on you say something too," Louise said.

"Well...I suppose we can keep them guessing," Alexander said making Louise fall flat on her face.

"They'll misunderstand even more then!" Louise exclaimed.

"No fair! How come Alexander gets to dance with Louise? I wanna dance with her too," Suzie said.

"No way it'll be awkward for a girl to dance with another girl," Alicia said.

"I wish I was a guy then..." Suzie said depressingly as she crouched at the corner as a wave of despair rolled off of her."

"Ah S-Suzie..." Louise said as she sighed, "well that's the gist of it, has anyone been at a party like this?" as the others shook their heads, "Oh well...then we'll all be learning something new tomorrow."

"Mou~ I can't wait for tomorrow," Alicia said as Lousie wondered if all of them were going to be fine tomorrow night. The next day everyone was too busy talking about the upcoming party to care about anything else as they went and tried to do some last minute shopping, even though the dress code was formal and they were expected to wear their military clothes it still didn't stop the more fashion-minded people, like Alicia, to shop around to make themselves more noticeable. Meanwhile for Louise it was just her hitting the library again and this time she managed to get there without anything, or anyone, interrupting her. The quietness of the library was a welcomed relief for her as she grabbed a book and went to her usual spot: a table in front of a window that overlooked a garden, before she opened it and felt like she was back in the academy again.

After a while she felt someone standing behind her as she looked out at the window and it reflected back Tabitha's face, "Oh...I thought I might run into you here sometime," Louise said with a smile making Tabitha smile back.

"How are you?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Louise said, "you?" as Tabitha shrugged which usually meant she was alright, "still not much of a talker aren't you? Suits your role as a sniper," as Tabitha nodded. "Well...have a seat," Louise said indicating the seat next to her though no one ever came and sat next to her, the library was always very quiet and not many people were reading books with the war going on. But for Louise it was like her sanctuary, much like how the academy library was a sanctuary for her, and she liked to read and learn about the world around her.

Tabitha took a seat as she looked out the window before commenting, "Party tonight."

"Yep," Louise said, "looking forward to it?" she asked as Tabitha shrugged again, "I'm sure Kirche would love to have a look at some of the men in my squad," she said with a chuckle.

"Louise...do you think we'll ever get home?" Tabitha asked as Louise took a deep breath before closing the book and looking out to the window.

"Honestly? I don't know, I...I haven't had time to research how I got here never mind how to get back," Louise said as Tabitha nodded, "however...I'm conflicted Tabitha...I...I don't know if I want to go back."

"You're happier here?" she asked.

"I thought that would be obvious, back home I'm just a zero, a worthless mage not worth anyone's time. Here...here I'm the Heroine of Barton, I can help people, I can fight and actually be useful. For the first time in my life I actually have friends, friends I can depend on and talk to, people who look up to me, people who need me...I...I'm actually needed..." as Louise shook as the thought of going back to her own world and leaving this world behind actually scared her. It scared her to death because she didn't want to go back to that world secretly, secretly she wanted to stay here and maybe even get a full time position as a soldier however crazy it might sound.

Tabitha blinked in surprise at Louise's words, she had never considered what Louise might be going through while she was here, she just assumed that she would want to go back home as much as herself, Kirche and Guiche. But she actually wanted to stay here? Louise looked at Tabitha and smiled at her, "I'm sorry...that was rather pathetic wasn't it? Me wanting to stay here," as Tabitha shook her head. She understood the reasons why Louise would want to stay here, she understood her reasoning behind it as Tabitha put a hand on Louise's hand as the pink-haired girl looked at the blue-haired girl.

"I understand," Tabitha said, "your reasoning."

Louise scoffed lightly, not in a mean way but more of disbelief, "Not to disrespect you, but I don't think you do," she said looking away from Tabitha, "you don't know how hard my life has been."

"Perhaps...but...I do have my reasons for wanting to stay here," Tabitha said making Louise look at her in surprise.

"You want to stay here? Why? You're a genius in the academy, I mean you even beat me in non-magical studies, you...you have a bright future ahead of you," Louise said not being able to comprehend why someone like Tabitha, who was even a Knight already, would want to stay here when she could be legendary in Helkeginia.

Tabitha blinked as she then giggled, "That's probably...because I too have a hard life," she said to Louise as the pink-haired girl looked at her in confusion, "I...I've never told anyone this...except for Kirche...but...you're my friend..."

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't feel comfortable," Louise said, "it's alright."

"No it's fine," Tabitha said, "you're...someone I can actually relate to...not wanting to go home," Tabitha said as she began to tell Louise about her entire life. What Galia was actually like, how her father had a brother and was killed in a civil war. How her uncle wanted to get rid of her badly and sent to her various dangerous missions hoping she would get killed, and surviving each time, what happened to her mother and why her name was Tabitha and that her real name was actually Charlotte Hélène d'Orléans. Louise gaped at what she heard, she knew that the nobility wasn't perfect and one could always expect some sort of in-fighting to happen when it comes to succession especially for the royalty of countries. But to have something like this happen to Tabitha? Louise was grateful that her mother raised her daughters to always respect each other and it was clear that when she was gone the head of Valliere would go to all of them, perhaps that was the reason? To prevent her daughters from hurting each other?

"Oh Tabitha...I...I didn't know," Louise said.

"It's fine," Tabitha replied, "I've gotten used to it...even Kirche doesn't know the full story."

"So that's why you don't want to go home, you...you don't want to be subjugated to that sort of thing again," Louise said, "of course...this place is safer isn't it?" as Tabitha nodded before she turned her back on Louise.

"Perhaps I would go back in the end, but right now...I'm conflicted...like you are I suppose," before Louise then went and gently hugged Tabitha from behind as the blue-haired girl's eyes widened.

"I am...I'm so conflicted in what to do, whether to go home or not, but you know what? I'm putting that at the back of my mind, I try not to think about it too much, my main priority here is to survive this war. Afterwards...I'll see where my destiny leads me," Louise said, "you don't have to suffer alone Tabitha, I'm right here...I'm right here helping you with the pain."

This surprised Tabitha, she had never really felt anyone support her emotionally, true Kirche did it but only on a fundamental level. But for someone to truly say that they would support Tabitha and help her. It was a completely different, yet pleasant, experience making her smile, "Thank you...Louise," as the two girls exchanged a giggle knowing that at least they had something in common in terms of their situation.

Night quickly came as various military officers and soldiers came into the palace and then to the main hall, a huge hall, where the party was to be held. Soft music echoed throughout the hall as people were pleasantly chatting to one another though it was clear that there was a distinction between officers and soldiers. The officers looked like the nobility part since they were dressed quite elegantly while the soldiers had their simple uniform on making Louise frown at the differences, none of the officers were even speaking to the soldiers at all. "This is just the same as Helkeginia," she commented as Tabitha nodded.

"Well it can't really be helped," Alexander said, after Louise had explained that Tabitha, who still insisted on using that name, was now her friend and giving a very brief rundown of their relationship he had accepted it wholeheartedly and welcomed Tabitha as a friend. "The nobles had always looked down on the common people because they thought that they were unfit to rule themselves hence why the nobility was created, this of course extended to the militia and the military, it is very rare for a non-noble to be an officer and those that do make it are still treated at the very least a grudging respect from the nobles."

"That's not right, not right at all," Louise said, "it doesn't matter what status you are, if you're capable enough to lead then you should lead and if you're not then you shouldn't be leading even if you are a noble."

"I'm guessing your mother taught you that?" Alexander asked.

"No...just common sense," Louise replied making Alexander chuckle. However Louise had to admit that the party did lift up everyone's mood since everyone was having a great time, plus the food was great as evident by Kirche who was digging into the food, "geez...does that Germanina harlot ever slow down?"

"Apparently the food in Germania is the same as here," Tabitha said, "the academy food was terrible according to her."

"I think she just needs to get some sense knocked into her," Louise remarked since she couldn't really believe that the academy food was really that bad, it was cooked for nobility so surely it should have suited Kirche's taste, or was she saying that simply to make Germania look good? Either way Louise ignored Kirche before she then saw Suzie talking to someone. That struck her as strange since Suzie rarely talked to anyone outside of the squad, she was a shy girl and never really was one for talking with people, however here she was talking to someone. However it seemed that Suzie was uncomfortable with talking to that person as Louise went towards her, Suzie looked scared underneath the gaze of a tall young man with black hair wearing an officer's uniform as Louise could see his rank was that of a Captain.

"Is there a problem here?" Louise asked bluntly making Suzie jumped when she heard her voice before the man's eyes narrowed.

"This is none of your business commoner, away with you," he said with disdain gazing at her though Louise did not falter, she had been underneath that gaze for a long time both by her parents and other nobles, she had gotten used to them.

"I'm sorry, but if you're going to cause trouble for my friend then I'm going to step in," Louise said, "and your gaze doesn't scare me either."

"This is not something for outsiders to interfere in," the man said.

"Excuse me?" Louise asked.

"I-it's okay Louise," Suzie said as she looked at the man, "this is my brother, Captain Andrew Rose."

"You're her brother?" Louise asked in surprise as Andrew chuckled.

"Indeed, surprising isn't it? Me, a decorated officer, being the brother of a worthless soldier like her," Andrew said scathingly as Louise felt anger boiling in her again.

"She is not a worthless soldier," Louise said, "she's proven her worth many times."

"I beg to differ," Andrew argued, "I can still remember the crowing of my colleagues when it was discovered that on her first battle my sister cowered like a trembling mouse and refused to fight. Such an embarrassment to the Rose family," he said with a sigh making Louise tremble with anger.

"It doesn't matter what she did in the past, she's now willing to fight, isn't that what matters? The present?" Louise asked.

"Even so the past also dictates our future," Andrew said, "from the very beginning my sister has been nothing more then a burden to the family. She is an embarrassment to the family, it would be much better if she was gone," as Louise stepped forward before she felt Mason pulling her back.

"Now, now," he said, "it wouldn't be good for you to snap here," he said calmly and with slight mirth.

"Let me go," Louise hissed.

"Don't make a scene here," Mason whispered, "it'll do you no good, go outside with Suzie, I'll deal with him...trust me." Louise took a few deep breaths before grabbing Suzie's hand and going outside as she kicked a stone bench to vent her anger, though it only caused pain in her toe though it did calm her down before she sat on the bench.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Suzie said as she sat next to Louise, "I thought I would be able to deal with him..."

"Is your family heavily involved in the military?" Louise asked as Suzie nodded.

"They're the rival of the Cutler family, however the Cutler family has had more successes then us so that's why they're highly praised, our father...he's always telling us that we should always strive to be better then the Cutler...so that we can be in favour of the President. But I don't like fighting," before Louise hugged her.

"I know...I know what it feels like to be in a family that's different from you..." as Louise rubbed her head while Suzie's heart beat faster though Louise was oblivious to this.

"Louise..." Suzie whispered, as she felt happy, very happy, while she smiled at her, "thank you for defending me I really appreciated that…I'll follow you anywhere Louise no matter what..."

"I know," Louise said, "I'm happy to have a loyal friend with me," as she let go of Suzie before offering her hand, "come then Suzie, let's go back to the party...that is if you want to."

"Of course Louise," Suzie said, as the two of them then returned to the party as Alexander and Claudia came to them.

"Where were you two?" Claudia asked, "We searched everywhere for you."

"Hehe sorry...had some...issues that needed to be dealt with," Louise said scanning the area to see if Andrew was still here, but he wasn't so that was a relief but neither was Mason making her wonder where he went off to. Though knowing him he's probably somewhere taking a nap as the music then became much softer as people began taking partners as Louise eeped when Alexander then took her in.

"Shall we?" he asked making Louise blushed before she nodded. The two of them then went to the dance floor and they began dancing, she had never really danced before with a male partner. Her sisters and mother had helped her dance when she was little but never before with the opposite gender as Alexander chuckled, "You look so cute when you're blushing."

"B-be quiet," Louise said making Alexander smile even more, however she couldn't deny that it did feel good to dance with Alexander. She felt at peace when she was with him, a sense of quiet that she wasn't able to get from the battlefield, whenever she was with him she felt that she could trust him with her life.

"You're pretty good at dancing," Alexander commented, "were you taught by someone?"

"A tutor, when I was young," Louise said, "so...so are you..."

"Well...I'm just a natural dancer that's all," Alexander said.

"I hate it when you say you're a natural...you're not a genius are you?"

"Perhaps I am...or perhaps I'm not, you'll just have to wait and find out," making Louise groan, she hated when Alexander did that to her. Though it did make her intrigued by him a little bit more as the dance became slower as the two of them looked into each others eyes while Alexander was...blushing? This was the first time that Louise had ever seen Alexander blush before making her look at him strangely, "Louise...I...I want to tell you something..." he said.

"Huh? What is it?" Louise asked.

"I...I know we've only known each other for close to a year...a-and I'm not nobility, but...but..." Alexander said.

"Huh? What is it spit it out Alexander," Louise said.

"Louise Valliere...I lo-" but whatever Alexander was going to say was cut off as a loud explosion rocked the hall as the shockwave through them as Louise was dazed for a moment before the screams snapped her back.

"W-what's going on?" Louise asked as gunfire echoed all over the place, her battle instincts kicked in again as she dragged Alexander to a table being used as cover.

"What the hell is going on?" Claudia asked as bullets peppered the table.

"I think we're under attack," Alice said, "but...but it can't be the Confederacy! Not in the capital."

A scream then took Louise's attention as she saw Eleanor being taken away by several robed man, "Eleanor!" Louise said attempting to get to her, but was suppressed by machine gun fire as she could only watch helplessly as Eleanor was kidnapped as the assailants retreated. Without any hesitation the royal guards pursued the enemy as Louise was up already, "Come on we gotta help them," Louise said.

"Hold up Louise, we're not even armed," Claudia said.

"We can grab some weapon on the way," Louise said.

"Maybe we should wait for orders first? I mean...there's a lot of injured people, maybe we should stay here first," Alice said.

"Are you crazy? The President's daughter had just been kidnapped and you want to wait here?" Louise asked.

"Calm down Louise," Mason said.

"Good someone with some sense," Louise said, "tell us that we need to pursue those guys now."

"We can't," Mason said as Louise looked at him in aghast, "we have orders to secure the area and do a sweep of the northern sector, this could be some sort of Confederacy attack."

"B-b-but-" Louise began.

"It's orders," Mason said, "I know how you feel Louise, I do, but we cannot disobey orders. Leave the pursuit to the Royal Guards, they're well trained and they'll find her. Trust me," as he waited for Louise to nod before moving away.

"I can't believe it..." Louise said her shoulders sagging.

"Don't worry Louise, let's just do our job okay?" Claudia said patting her shoulder as Louise nodded hoping that Eleanor would be alright and she would be back home before the night was over.


	14. Chapter 13: Rescue In The Mountains

**Time for another chapter! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, read, faved and followed this story. I very much appreciate it and I look forward to more of them. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero characters in any way other than my OCs**

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Three days had passed since Elanor was kidnapped by the Confederacy, three days since the capital had been penetrated, three days since this all began. Louise frowned as she was currently patrolling the northern sector yet again as Alexander and Claudia was with her, the night was a bit chilly making her glad that she had her scarf all the time as she wrapped it tighter around her as she tried not to sneeze, "Mou~ when's our shift finished?" she asked.

"After one last round," Alexander said, "eager to go back to the barracks?"

"It's freezing Alexander, wouldn't you rather be in bed then patrolling out here?" Louise asked.

"I don't know…I always see this as a leisurely stroll around the northern sector," he said with a smile as Claudia grinned behind them.

"Maybe next time you two should be the only ones to actually be patrolling, I think you two have lots to talk about," she said.

"Stop it Claudia," Louise said as Alexander blushed as she noticed it again, ever since he was cut off at the party he had always been blushing whenever he was around Louise. He had never blushed whenever he was around her and it made her wonder what exactly he wanted to say to her then, when she asked about it he said that it wasn't important and that she shouldn't worry about it. "It's quite tonight…" Louise commented as the streets were completely empty of people and it felt like they were patrolling a ghost town rather then the capital of Belfast.

"People are afraid to come out these days," Claudia said, "I think they've realised that not even the capital is safe from the Confederacy."

"I can imagine, I always thought that the capital would be the last place you expect an attack," Louise admitted, for three days the atmosphere around the capital had been nothing short of tense. People were now too afraid to come out at night and even in the day time there were less people about as they all stayed indoors, the military presence, both regular and militia alike, increased as it was now common to see armed patrols around the place. However despite the Royal Guard's best efforts to capture the intruders they had ultimately failed and Eleanor was nowhere to be found, that had a huge impact on the morale of the people as without their beloved President's daughter they wondered what would happen to her. Amanda was the worst one hit as she spent hours, sometimes sleepless nights, pouring over information and reports…she had not slept at all and it was worrying Elisia as well the point that the girl begged Louise to talk to Amanda.

She tried talking to Amanda but she was an utter wreck and could hardly hold a conversation together, Louise was now starting to worry whether or not the Belfast military would be able to keep it together. As she bumped into a pole because she wasn't watching where she was looking, nor did she do her usual routine of scanning everything in front of her as she usually did, "Something on your mind?" Alexander asked as Louise cursed as she rubbed her forehead.

"Nothing to worry about," Louise said, "do you think the President's daughter will be found soon?"

"I don't know," Alexander said, "I've heard a lot of rumours that she might not be in Belfast anymore, she might have already been taken deep into enemy lines."

"Damn it…" Louise cursed, it was times like these that she hated being helpless, that she wished that she had magic flowing in her. If she had magic…if she had used some sort of magic then perhaps things wouldn't be so chaotic right now.

"Don't worry Louise," Claudia said reassuringly, "the people of Belfast will not give up so easily; we will continue to fight on until the very end."

"Right…" Louise said though inside she wasn't so sure about that as they finished their patrols as they changed shifts with another team before heading to the barracks. "You guys go on ahead…I have some things to take care of," she told Alexander and Claudia as they looked at each other before nodding. Louise then went to a part of the capital where there was an uphill section as she sat on a bench and looked up to the clear sky where the moon was shining. She found this place by chance when she was taking a walk and it was the perfect place for her to actually relax after a hard mission, it was nice as not a lot of people came by so she almost had the entire place to herself.

Right now she just wanted to be alone and contemplate on the situation, no doubt things will get harder from now on she never doubted that, but she wondered for the first time if she was going to lose someone soon…it was always on the back of her mind the more the war continued. She didn't want to lose any of her friends, not Claudia, Suzie, Alice, Mason or…or even Alexander…it terrified her to think that she would one day not be able to see them; to never hear them laugh or talk again…she didn't know what to do. "Louise…" Alexander said as Louise snapped up to see Alexander there as she was surprised.

"A-Alexander…what are you doing here?" Louise asked.

"I followed you of course," Alexander said, "you looked troubled during our patrol so I thought I could help with whatever trouble you're having at the moment."

"Hehe…thanks," Louise said as Alexander sat next to her as she drew her knee up as she shuffled closer to him, "say Alexander…do you…do you think we'll be alright?"

"Hmm? If you mean whether or not we'll survive then I say yes…we'll be alright," Alexander said.

"I'm scared Alexander," Louise whispered, "I'm scared not of dying, but that I'll see my friends die…you, Suzie, Claudia everyone…I can't begin to even comprehend what I would do if something happens."

"Come here," Alexander said as Louise allowed herself to be drawn to him, "don't worry about it Louise. Squad 13's a tough squad, we've been through a lot together and we know what to do by now, we won't die so easily," as Louise nodded a bit. "Whatever happens…we will all be there right beside you Louise, you're the Heroine of Barton, we won't give up on you so easily…so don't give up on us so easily either."

"Okay," Louise said meekly, "promise me one thing though?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"Don't die okay? I don't want you to die…you're…you're the only one who knows everything about me…you're special to me," Louise said blushing as she did so.

"Sure, I promise you Louise," Alexander said as he hugged her tighter, "but promise me something in return? Don't ever lose hope that we'll survive this war…I hate to see you so down."

"Sure sounds fair enough," Louise said smiling as she did so.

"Alright squad we got our next mission, I know we've been patrolling the capital these last three days but command's given us our next mission and it's an important one. We have report that Eleanor is hidden on a base around here," Mason said pointing to a mountainous terrain as Lousie snapped up, they finally found her? That made Louise glad and excited at this mission, "We'll be part of a strike force that's going to clear out the mountain, the person in charge of this whole operation will be Amanda Cutler with Andrew Rose being her deputy," as Louise blanched at what was said as Suzie was trembling a little bit.

"Sir!" Louise said, "Are you sure that's a good idea? The Cutler and Rose family are rivals."

"We're aware of that, but Amanda and Andrew has experience in these kinds of operation and therefore they're the only ones that was suitable for the job," Mason said, "rest assured that they will put aside their differences and make sure that they do their jobs and bring her home safely. We'll be working with the 4th squad since our last operation with them went smoothly and we're able to coordinate things between them, a unit from the regular military will be supporting us though we don't know what their role will be."

"What about the Royal Guards?" Claudia asked, "Will they be supporting us?"

"Their primary role is to protect the capital and the President so unfortunately they won't be with us for this operation," Mason said.

"So wait we're cleaning up their mess?" Robert asked.

"Seems that way," Mason said as the squad grumbled their discontent, "alright this time we'll be the one to be doing the front assault while the 4th squad will be attacking their rear. Then once we're sure that they won't be able to escape and take Eleanor somewhere else we'll close in for the kill, however I must stress that we cannot commence attacking until all units are in position. If the net hasn't been closed yet and the enemy spots us then they'll escape with Eleanor and it'll be a mission failure. Understand?" as the squad nodded, "Alright be ready to move out in an hour," as Louise couldn't wait to get started, she was eager to rescue Eleanor because Eleanor was just someone who wanted the war to end. She was simply an innocent person caught up in the flames of war, she didn't deserve to be kidnapped, Louise wanted to make sure that Eleanor would be able to return home as she suited up and grabbed her rifle.

"Hey there Louise," Daniel said as Louise looked at her.

"Hi Daniel? How's the kids?" Louise asked.

"Great, they've been bored though being stuck in the house, though I prefer for them to be in the house then outside to be honest," Daniel said.

"I can understand," Louise said, "I'm a little bit more worried about the mountains though...it's going to be hard climbing up," as although her fitness has vastly improved thanks to the constant fighting and training Louise was still wasn't sure if she would be able to climb up the mountain without panting in exhaustion.

"Not to mention all the snipers," Daniel grimaced, "however thankfully there aren't many armoured vehicles around the base though it also means the Falcon will have a hard time coming up the slopes so we can't rely on it for support this time."

"When has that ever changed?" Louise laughed as Daniel laughed as well, "That means us infantry needs to step up, have they finally finished testing the new bullets?"

"Yep, first batch just came out, should already be with us," Daniel said.

"Alright then," Louise said pulling the loading mechanism as it loaded the bullet with a satisfying click, "let's do this."

The Anders Mountain range was one of the tallest ranges in all of Belfast, if you weren't careful you could easily fall to your death, thankfully there were railings all over the edges so tourists don't accidentally die. Not to mention there were plenty of signs that told them where things were so people didn't get lost, however it would take an experienced climber to go to where the Belfast military needed to go as Louise's legs were burning by the time they stopped. "Ok...I think...I need...to get some...more exercises," she said wheezing in between words.

"I thought I was a goner a while back," Claudia said as she was sweating crazily, "this is even harder then the training."

"Don't say that," Suzie said, "or else they really will put it as part of our training...I can't take another step."

"Good work squad," Mason said, "you all managed to get here in time."

"Shut up..." Alicia muttered, "you got to ride on the Falcon up here."

"Hey it wasn't easy either you know," Mason said with a pained expression, "you don't know how many times we were about to fall off the cliff and-" he was then interrupted as Louise climbed up and smacked him on the head.

"Yeah right!" she exclaimed, "as if Alice would be that lame."

"Alright, alright," Mason said before standing up straighter, "now we just need to wait for the other squads to be in position before we charge in. Remember try to stick close to the Falcon, I'll be supporting you and giving you cover, watch out for snipers and I want all snipers to be on the lookout in return, take out the enemy snipers before moving on to the normal infantry," as they nodded. It seemed like a lifetime before the squad got the call to commence the operation as the Falcon revved up and charged towards the slope as the rest of the squad followed close behind. Instantly they fell under attack as bullets pinged off the Falcon as Louise hid behind the tank as bullets ricochet off the tanks.

"This is one tough defence," Alicia commented, "they must be hiding someone, or something, important."

"Then let's keep on pushing," Louise said, "wonder if the 4th squad is on the move."

"If they are then they're taking their sweet time," Adrian said, "maybe they got held up by the enemy? Where's the regular army squad? What are they doing?"

"Calm down," Mason said through the radio, "keep on pushing and eventually we'll reach them. Trust in me," as Louise gave a small smile as they continued to push on as anti-tank units began firing their weapons at the Falcon as Louise aimed at one and took fire as the soldier was sent backwards from the impact of the bullet. As she nodded in self-encouragement before continuing on her way as they were near the end of the slope before the Falcon made it as the rest of the squad cheered as they were close to victory. The Confederacy soldiers then brought out their Angels as they flew high above the sky and attempted to pierce through the soldiers as the new bullets worked their magic. As expected the weapon didn't have much recoil when firing which was a bonus since it was already hard enough to aim at the Angels without the weapons going crazy.

"This is great, now I don't have to worry about shooting any of you guys by accident," Alicia said optimistically as the Angels were soon shot out of the sky.

"Ooh~ so the Angels got shot out huh? That's a pity," a voice said as a red-haired girl of around 15 cartwheeled in front of them.

"Yeah a pity," another voice said as a green-haired girl cartwheeled next to the red-haired girl, "though they're not getting past us right sis?"

"Yep that's right," the red-haired girl said, "I'm Hansel."

"And I'm Gretel," the green-haired girl as both of them then took out long knives as they grinned at the squad.

"And you're all going to die," they both said.

"Who are these freaks?" Robert asked.

"Crap, they're the Deloitte sisters, they're the Confederacy's top-tier assassins," Mason said, "be careful! They may not have guns, but they know enough of the human body to cut you in half."

"Oh great so the Confederacy top aces are coming out huh? Now I'm fired up," Claudia said, "Let's go Louise bet you that I take out one of them before you do."

"Hey wait this is no time for a competition," Louise said as the Deloitte sisters grinned.

"This is gonna be fun," Gretel said as she dashed towards Claudia as the black-haired soldier took aim, but Gretel was too fast for Claudia as she managed to nearly slice Claudia's throat and Claudia evaded death solely because she fell back when she tripped on a stone. "Close call...but not close enough," Gretel said as she tried to stab Claudia but was blocked by her arm.

"Haha...I might not look like it, but I'm a pretty decent when it comes to close quarter combat," Claudia said as she kicked Gretel away before jumping up as she took a combat stance, "come on then...let's see what the Confederacy's ace can do."

Meanwhile the other squad were busy engaging Hansel as she seemed to have an infinite amount of knives with her as she threw a storm of them at the squad forcing them to hide behind the Falcon. Of course even with the Falcon's machine gun she was able to dance her way out of it as she laughed continuously, "Damn it this girl's like a damn ghost, we can't hit her at all," Alicia said.

"At this rate we're just wasting ammo," Robert said, "and more reinforcements are coming," as while the squad was distracted more reinforcements were coming into aid the Deloitte sisters. At this rate they would be overwhelmed by the enemy as Louise gritted her teeth, Claudia wasn't doing so well either since although she might be decent in fighting without a gun, Gretel still outmatched her as she was knocked off her feet.

"Damn it, damn it where are the other squads?" Adrian exclaimed.

"They're being pinned down by enemy fire, 4th squad is taking it pretty hard as well," Amanda said as an explosion echoed over the radio as in the distance a similar explosion occurred. "We're unable to penetrate further and...and we're close to breaking."

"Hehe...looks like you lose," Hansel mocked as Louise was even more frustrated, this could not end like this, she made a vow to herself that she would rescue Eleanor. She was not going to fail that mission as she saw no other alternatives other then to use the one thing she thought she would never use again as she looked at Alexander as he looked at her before looking at her quizzingly.

"Alexander I'm going to use _that_ right now, where do you think I can hide?" Louise whispered.

"You mean-" Alexander began.

"Yes," Louise cut in before he could give it away.

"A-are you sure? I mean...you said you couldn't use it back home."

"Well if I use my trademark explosions I'm sure I'll be capable of that much, after all I do it anyways whenever I tried to use it," Louise said with a shrug as Alexander nodded.

"Alright I trust you," Alexander said as the two of them quietly went to another part of the area where there weren't a lot of people, it also hid Louise because there were trees there, "can you do it?" he asked once they got there.

"I have to try, I'm Louise Valliere, Heroine of Barton and it would be an embarrassment to my name if I can't save the President's daughter," Louise said with a smile as Alexander smiled back. She then took out her wand, she had kept her wand with her this entire time as it reminded her of what she once was and...and perhaps she wished that she would be able to use her magic for good and it seemed the time had come now. She closed her eyes and concentrated, this time not on the simple magic that she failed to do, but a simple magic that would cause explosions as she felt power going through her arm and to her wand. She then opened her eyes as she pointed to the ground as it then exploded sending Hansel backwards as she looked at them in confusion as the others were also bewildered. "It worked! It worked!" Louise exclaimed happily, she never had a spell work properly for her before so for something like this to happen it was a dream come true for her, as she hugged Alexander.

"Haha yes that's all well and good, but let's concentrate on the enemy okay?" Alexander remarked as Louise blushed before she then concentrated and then sent another explosion to a group of soldiers as they were blasted off their feet.

"Huh? W-what's this? Where's the explosion coming from?" Hansel asked confusingly as the soldiers had no idea what was attacking them as their comrades were being blown up left and right. "H-huh? Is this a new weapon? No one told me about this!" as Hansel was then blown backwards as Louise continued to send explosions towards the Confederacy as they were eventually thrown into complete disarray.

"R-retreat! Retreat!" a soldier shouted as the troops retreated away from the area as they were chased by unknown explosions as Gretel was also thrown backwards from the shockwave as she skidded on the ground.

"Owie...sis what's going on?" she asked.

"I don't know, I don't know! I don't know anything about this!" Hansel said, it seemed that she had lost her composure in the face of the unknown as Gretel had to pull her away from the area.

"We'll be back! You better watch out!" Gretel said as one last explosion sent the Deloitte sisters running as squad 13 looked blankly at the numerous holes marking the ground.

"Ha...ha...ha...I did it...I saved everyone," Louise said panting as she foolishly used too much energy in her spells as her vision was blacking out, "damn...too much...willpower..." as she then collapsed as Alexander caught her.

"Good work Louise," he said softly, "you really are a heroine," as the rest of the squad moved forward as he carried Louise down.

"Alexander! What happened?" Suzie asked as she saw Louise being carried.

"Ah that is...something happened and she collapsed, she's quite alright just exhausted," Alexander said unsure of what to say.

"Eh? She fought off a Confederacy soldier on her own?" Suzie said jumping to conclusions.

"Y-yes, yes that's right!" Alexander said with a chuckle.

"She's really brave," Suzie said with hearts in her eye as she turned into her fangirl mode.

"Well that's all and good," Alicia said, "but she's going to be out for the rest of the mission."

"She can come into the Falcon, there's a small space where she can rest," Mason said as the back of the Falcon opened up as Alexander carried her there, "alright squad move out! How's Claudia?"

"She'll be fine," Robert said as he dressed Claudia's shoulder, which was wounded by a knife stab as the black-haired girl groaned in pain.

"I'll be alright Mason," Claudia said, "let's keep on going."

"Alright, let's complete this mission!" Mason said as the rest of the squad cried out before charging forward.


	15. Chapter 14: Battle for Riang P1

**Time for another chapter, thanks to everyone who reviewed, faved, followed etc. the story. I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Familiar of Zero characters except for my OCs**

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Louise did not wake up for 24 hours during which time Eleanor was retrieved safely after all the Confederacy soldiers either laid dead or were on the run. Eleanor was quite sound in body though she was quite shaken up by what happened as Amanda breath a sigh of relief when she found Eleanor in a cabin up in the mountains. When asked what happened to Eleanor Alexander continued to stick with his story that she had fought off a Confederacy soldier on her own and was knocked out, slightly revising it from simply too exhausted to fight, everyone seemed to take that in stride thankfully though he wondered how Louise's rivals would interpret that. He hoped that they would not cause any unnecessary problems for her; Louise then woke up in the infirmary again as she groaned, "You're finally awake...I was starting to wonder if you would sleep for the entire week," Alexander said as Louise rubbed her eye.

"Morning," she said sleepily as Alexander laughed, "what happened?"

"You collapsed as soon as you finished...doing your thing," Alexander said as Louise remembered.

"Damn I used too much willpower, it's been so long since I used it that I forgot the toll it takes," Louise muttered; if she was to use further magic then she would have to train herself not to overuse her stamina when casting spells. That would mean training not only to increase her stamina, but also in the way she spent those stamina, "How long was I out for?"

"A day Eleanor got retrieved safely and everyone's very happy with the outcome," Alexander said.

"I'm glad," Louise said, "at least it made using magic worth it."

"Everyone's still trying to figure out who caused those explosions of course, everyone thought it was an artillery unit but of course there weren't any artillery units there. It's quite an enigma," Alexander said.

"Do they suspect something?" Louise asked as Alexander shook his head.

"I told them that you fought off a Confederacy soldier," as Louise sighed.

"Couldn't you think up a better excuse?" she asked.

"Not at that present moment," Alexander said, "do you feel alright?"

"A little sluggish but it should clear up if I rest for the day...I'll need to do more training..."

"You don't intend to use it again do you?" Alexander asked in concern.

"It's a weapon that should be used," Louise said, "it's useful...if I continued to use it...

"Hmm...only explosions though?"

"Well it had to be useful for something sometime right?" Louise said with a smile as the door opened as Suzie and Claudia came in as Suzie hugged her.

"Oh my god Louise you're awake I thought you weren't going to wake up and I didn't know what I would do and-" Suzie babbled on as Louise hugged her back.

"Slow down Suzie I'm fine," Louise said as she then looked at Claudia, "how are you two?"

"Suzie's fine, I got stabbed though," Claudia said as Louise's heart sank a little...so she failed to stop someone she cared about from being hurt, if only she had been a little faster..."It's fine though just a light wound, I'll be able to get back to duty today."

"Oh I see..." Louise said feeling a little guilty.

"Don't worry about me Louise, worry about yourself," Claudia said, "you gave everyone a fright when Alexander carried you," as the pink haired girl blushed at the thought of Alexander carrying her.

"Haha sorry about that," Louise said, "it won't happen again..."

"Well we're going on a mission soon, so make sure you rest up okay?" Claudia said.

"Eh? You're going on a mission? Where to?" Louise asked.

"We're going to try and drive out a Confederacy force," Claudia said, "I think it's time that we fought back for real now," as Louise's eyes widened as she threw off the cover.

"I'm coming," Louise said, "there's no way I'm going to be stuck here," but the moment she stood up she felt weak and would have fallen if not for Suzie grabbing her.

"You're in no state to fight right now," Claudia said, "I don't know what happened, but it seemed you over-exerted yourself. Just rest, it won't take long for us to rout those Confederacy soldiers," she said with a grin as Suzie nodded.

"Please rest Louise, I hate for you to get injured because you didn't take a rest," Suzie pleaded as Louise cursed herself for going overboard as she closed her eye before nodding.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen to us," Claudia said, "I'm your rival and as such I'm not going to die before you acknowledge that I've beaten you."

"And I promised you that I would be by your side forever," Suzie said.

"And me...well I guess I've been with you the whole time," Alexander said as Louise smiled.

"Ok...take care everyone I'll be waiting," as the three of them nodded. However even though she said that she couldn't help but be worried for them all, they were her friends and it didn't sit right with her that she should just stay here while they were fighting. She sighed while looking out the window before she could hear someone walking to her as she turned to see that it was Luna as she exclaimed in surprise, "Luna! You're still here?"

"Hello Louise," Luna said smiling as she sat next to her, "I'm surprised you're back again...did you get injured again?"

"Hehe you could say that..." Louise said, "I've missed you, when are you returning to the squad?" as Luna looked unsure as she looked away.

"I...I'm not sure," Luna said, "the psychologist said I'm still suffering from some sort of shellshock..."

"Huh?" Louise asked.

"It means I still have memories of my time in captivity," Luna clarified, "I don't like to be inside buildings, I have trouble sleeping alone, darkness scares me now and...and I don't know if I would ever be able to fight again..." as a tear ran down her eyes. "Mason comes every time he's at the capital, but I hate to see him go without me, I want to fight Louise but yet...yet I'm so weak and pathetic," as she sobbed. Louise's heart went out to Luna understanding the same thing that Luna was feeling, that helplessness that she felt sitting here, and the constant worry of her friends.

Louise then went closer to Luna as she hugged the girl, "It's alright Luna, I can understand what you're feeling, I too wish that I could be there with the others as well, I hate being stuck here while the ones I care about are fighting with their life on the line. That's why I want to get stronger, stronger and stronger, so that I can fight and protect them. My situation might be different then yours, but I believe that you can overcome this, you're a strong girl and you're the daughter of a famous general. So don't despair Luna, you'll be able to beat this," she explained gently as Luna seemed to be at ease when Louis told her that as she nodded.

"Yeah...of course I will," Luna said, "thanks...I owe you one."

"Mhm, we owe each other a lot of things," Louise said. The next few days before the squad was due to arrive Louise continued to train her body, she didn't know how to train her restraint of magic spells since she couldn't well use her explosion magic anywhere and it would certainly raise some questions why Louise was surrounded by holes on the ground. Therefore the only thing that she could do was to train her body, the more she trained her body the less likely she would collapse from exhaustion and the more time she would be able to cast her spells; she would learn how to restrain herself on the battlefield and learn as she go.

"Man Louise, I didn't think you would be training for three days straight," Claudia said when the squad got back and heard about what happened, "you're making me look bad."

"Well...I didn't have anything to do while you guys were out so I thought I would force my body to push itself," Louise said.

"At this rate I think you'll be well on your way to being a super-soldier," Claudia commented as Louise laughed at the comment.

"Well I've come a long way since joining up the militia," Louise said looking at herself, she was now much fitter then before, she didn't wheeze and collapse after a simple run and if need be she could run for five hours straight without stopping and taking a breather, her muscles also improved a bit as the rifles were heavy at first to her but now they were light though she would never be able to lift the anti-tank weapons that Daniel carries. She was a bit taller too, but only slightly, which still irked her since her height had been a source of amusement for the other students and teachers alike.

"Hey Louise," Alexander whispered, "have you fixed that small problem yet?"

"No, I think I'll learn as I go along," Louise replied.

"Is that safe?" Alexander asked.

"Well I can't well keep blowing things up in the capital could I?" Louise retorted.

"Hey what are you two lovebirds whispering?" Alicia asked, "We have a briefing now," as the two of them blushed before following Alicia who was grinning the entire way as the squad stood at the briefing room.

"Alright people here's the situation," Mason said, "the initial charge was successful and we managed to drive the Confederacy out of the eastern part of Belfast, however they're still heavily entrenched in the western part and they have a big base there. Our next mission is to take out that base whatever the cost, intelligence indicates that they have a heavy infantry presence supported by a battery of artilleries. Squad 13's mission is to take out those artilleries so that our armoured divisions can come in and clean up the base, the base also used to be a town called Riang and according to intelligence they have civilians as hostages there."

"They've taken hostages? That's low of them," Claudia said.

"That's the reason why the military wasn't keen on attacking the town, that's why we need to tread carefully on this one," Mason said, "we need to take out those artillery quietly and then take out as much of the outer guards as we can so that the rest of the military can go in and eliminate the troops inside and take back that town. Once we've taken back Riang we'll have a good buffer zone against the Confederacy and we can start planning how to get rid of them for good."

"Alright then what are we waiting for?" Claudia asked.

"For this mission it's better to have a small team and as little noise as possible, that's why the Falcon won't be supporting you for the initial part of the operation," as they nodded. Although it would be quite strange without the Falcon leading them they knew that tanks were noisy things and they needed to be quiet if they were to have any hope of getting the drop on them. "That's why a team of 7 is also needed, who wants to volunteer for that mission?"

Claudia, Alicia and Adrian put their hands up immediately as others were looking around nervously, it would be their first night operation and they weren't quite sure if they would be able to move around as easily because of the dark. Sighing Louise put her hand up as not a lot of people were surprised by this, Louise always seemed to get the short end of the stick when it comes to dangerous missions; naturally Suzie and Alexander put their hands up. "Alright so that's just means we need one more person, anyone want to go?"

"I'll go," as they all turned to see Luna, dressed up, and looking normal, "I'll go for this mission."

"Have you been cleared?" Mason asked neutrally. Luna then went to him and gave him the discharge paper as his eyes betrayed a sense of loss, it was clear that he did not want Luna in this operation, but he could not act discriminate to her simply because he was her brother as he nodded, "Alright I'm putting you as team leader," he said.

"I won't let you down," Luna replied as the two siblings went into silence before Luna turned and sat next to Louise.

"Did you really get discharged?" Louise whispered to Luna as the girl nodded, "How do you feel?"

"Fine," Luna said curtly as Louise didn't ask anymore. The squad was then dismissed as there was a nervous tension around the air, mainly because they were going to actually be sieging a town this time instead of the other way around. For Louise she was more worried that her team wouldn't be able to destroy those artilleries without alerting the Confederacy, surely they would keep them in check every hour? Or at least sometime? What if they found out that the artilleries were gone? Would they kill the civilians? For the first time in her life Louise was really nervous about a mission as she fingered her scarf nervously as Claudai clapped her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it Louise," Claudia said, "everyone gets nervous on a mission."

"It's not that..." Louise said, "I'm more worried about what will happen if we fail."

"Ah...well in that case I can't help you there," Claudia said.

"What a useless rival," Louise teased as Claudia grabbed her and drilled her knuckle into her head, "ow, ow, ow that hurts!"

"That's for teasing me," Claudia said before patting Louise's head, "don't worry about it...we all get that 'what if' moment whenever an operation like this comes up. You just have to not worry about it and tell yourself that everything will be alright, that it'll all go smoothly."

"Yeah? It works?" Louise asked as Claudia nodded.

"But then again...you are the Heroine of Barton, there's nothing you can't do," Claudia said.

"That's right," Louise said, "I can't fail this, it'll be an insult to my name," Louise said with cheeky smile as Claudia grinned back. "Thanks Claudia...for helping me out."

"Of course," Claudia said, "can't let my rival act down can I? It won't be fun then."

"Ah of course," Louise said knowingly as she grabbed her rifle before tightening her eyepatch, "let's go then, I think those people have suffered long enough."

"Roger," Claudia said as Luna's team headed out as Louise glanced at Luna now and again as they rode towards the location, they would be dropped off at a discreet location before making their way to the first artillery battery; from there they would then continue until all of them were taken out. Because of the nature of the operation they were given special weapons that didn't fire loudly, they were fitted with 'suppresors' and it would hide the muzzle flash of the weapon and reduced the noise greatly. Useful for night operations like this as Louise gripped hers tightly, the truck then slowed down before stopping as the team disembarked before the truck drove away again.

"Alright here's how it's going to go," Luna said, "Louise and Alexander you're on point, you can spot the enemy before we can and tell us if they're approaching us, after that I'll be in the middle along with Claudia, then Suzie, Alicia and Adrian are at the rear protecting us."

"Sounds good," Louise said.

"Remember we need to keep quiet, we can't let anyone know that we're here," Luna reminded them as they all nodded, "alright let's do this." The night was quiet and there was a little bit of light from the moon as they carefully and slowly approached the first artillery, there was a lot of tension in the air as they didn't know if they had been spotted or not though they assumed that if they weren't being shot at then they hadn't been spotted. Louise and Alexander continued to look for enemies as they spotted a campfire next to the artillery as Luna nodded in acknowledgement as the team slowly made their way over there. Hopefully their approach would not be detected by them as Louise licked her lips, every step feeling like it could give a loud crack and alert the enemy, her heart hammering against her chest as she could hear her breath getting louder as they were so close to the enemy camp that they could see the soldiers. Taking aim Louise awaited Luna's signal to fire, ideally taking them all out before they were able to react was the way to go. Louise steadied her aim as she crouched to make it better as she aimed for the head, a quick death was what she wanted both for the soldier and herself before Luna fired the first shot signalling it was time as Louise pulled the trigger.

The sound was unlike anything she had ever heard, it was more like a small pop rather then a loud bang, as the soldiers fell over one by one as the team quickly secured the campsite in case there were any survivors. After checking the area thoroughly Luna ordered Adrian to put the demolition charges on the artillery, once all of them were secured then were to blow it up as soon as the main forces were in. After doing so they continued with their mission as each battery was successfully secured and all the soldiers in it was dead as dawn was quickly approaching, "This is the last one, let's quickly take this out and then await orders," Luna said, her eyes were drooping with tiredness as Louise felt like she could just fall asleep here as she yawned softly.

"Man I've never been up this late before," Adrian said, "we really need to hit the hay when this is over."

"Suck it up Adrian," Claudia said, "we still have one last mission to achieve," though her disposition was still cheerful Louise could see tiredness in her movements, she was also feeling the strain of the night operation, as the team approached the last position they were surprised to find that there was no one manning the artillery. They looked everywhere, but couldn't find a single trace of them, "Don't tell me they're already onto us?" Claudia exclaimed.

"No they would've ambushed us the moment we got here," Luna said trying not to panic as Louise surveyed the area around them, there wasn't any warm fire meaning that the soldiers didn't even light a fire which was impossible since the night was freezing cold and every position they came to had a fire going, and still is to keep the pretense up.

"Maybe this position is abandoned?" Adrian suggested optimistically.

"Not possible, this is the last position on the map, they have to be here somewhere," Luna insisted.

"Then where the hell are they?" Adrian asked a little irritably.

"I don't know, I don't know!" Luna said.

"Oh gee the great Luna Terry doesn't know, what a surprise," Adrian snapped as Luna opened her mouth before Alexander clapped his hand to it.

"Now, now let's not fight okay?" he said cheerfully, "I'm sure Luna's trying her best here."

"He's right, this is no time to be fighting against each other," Louise said taking control of a spiralling situation, "Adrian for once shut it, you're not helping," she stated as Adrian put his hands up in surrender before muttering something. "Alright Claudia and Alexander do a quick search of the area and confirm that they're not here, the rest of us will stay hidden in case they do come back, if there are no Confederacy soldiers then we'll just continue on as though we've neutralized them."

"Roger," Claudia said, "sounds like a good plan," as Alexander nodded as the two of them then split up as the rest of the team hid in various places out of sight as Suzie and Luna was next to her as Luna was muttering under her breath darkly.

"It's alright Luna, you did good," Louise reassured the sergeant, "better then what anyone would've expected."

"It wasn't supposed to go this way," Luna said, "it wasn't supposed to be this way!"

"Look it'll be fine," Louise said, "as soon as Claudia and Alexander comes back we'll know whether there's any hostiles. Then if not we've got an easy victory, come on the end is near don't lose your cool here."

Luna took a few deep breaths as she calmed herself down as her eyes flickered with tiredness, "I suppose so..." she mumbled, "how could I have screwed it up?"

"Screw what up?" Louise asked.

"Me," Luna said, "since being discharged I feel uneasy in this uniform, I want to fight, but at the same time I just feel uncomfortable...like wearing a second skin."

"Yeah that happened to me too," Louise said, "when I got discharged after losing my eye. I think it's because we're both wondering if we made the right choice, you know whether to continue fighting or not, I mean you could've stayed in the hospital for the entire war and return a different person. Perhaps not, I could've done the same. But we both chose to continue fighting, because we have people we care about right?" Louise said as she then ruffled Suzie's hair as she blushed and giggled.

"Y-yeah...I guess so..." Luna said, "you're so strong Louise, you always manage to keep it together."

"Haha yeah...I've got lots of practice," Louise said, after constant bullying in the academy Louise had managed to keep her most inner emotions to herself, to not let anyone ever see it. Of course it was different now as she was among friends, but back then she was among wolves and they would've torn her apart if they realised that she was revealing some sort of weaknesses...that was the nature of nobles.

Alexander and Claudia came back as they gestured it was all clear as the team regrouped, "I found the soldiers, they're all dead though," Claudia said, "looks like a good slice to the neck."

"A knife? How the hell did someone take out a whole squad with just a knife?" Adrian asked.

"I don't know, but this looked like an amateur, the cut weren't clean," Claudia said as Adrian looked at her dubiously, "I would know cause I took training in knife combat."

"So someone else is here? Taking out the soldiers? Think they're with us?" Alicia asked.

"Hopefully," Louise said as Adrian then went and put the charges on, "alright that's a mission accomplished. Let's call back to Mason and tell him the good news," as the team nodded as Louise then yawned, "after that a good rest should do it."

"Yeah I'm too tired to even walk anymore," Claudia said, "but damn it's going to be a pain walking back to the rendezvous point."

"You're telling me," Adrian said as Louise reported back what happened to Mason as they were then ordered to retreat as per the plan. As they walked back Louise and Alexander were talking in hushed tones about the new person.

"It was pretty bloody over there," he said, "it looked like whoever it was made sure that those soldiers suffered."

"So either the person had a grudge against the Confederacy, or this person really likes to torture people," Louise remarked.

"It could also be a group of people," Alexander said, "it's quite impossible for one person to subdue an entire squad right?"

"Yeah that is true, so then that means a group of people who like to torture people...doesn't make that any better," Louise said.

"Well let's hope it's the former, I really don't want to face them if it's the latter," Alexander said as Louise silently agreed.


	16. Chapter 15: Battle for Riang P2

**Hello everyone, time for another chapter, I hope you enjoy this one. This chapter is part of my small arc of Riang that I'm going to do so there's going to be plenty of action. I had someone ask me for the background to the new world Louise is in and how the whole thing started. I will try my best to explain the backstory in the story, however I can't guarantee that will happen. Anyways hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Familiar of Zero characters, just my OCs**

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Louise didn't know when she fell asleep, or when she even arrived back at the base. But the only thing that she did know was that the next time she woke up it was already morning and most of the squad were already up. "Morning sleepy head, had a good sleep?" Alicia asked towering above her as Louise groaned.

"What time is it?" Louise asked.

"A little after 9," Alicia said as Louise jolted right up.

"What! That late already!" Louise said, normally she would wake up around a little after 7, but never this late before.

"Hey calm down, we had a lot of work and we didn't get a wink of sleep," Alicia said, "I'm surprised you're already up. Everyone else on the team is still asleep."

"Why are you up then?" Louise asked.

"I can't sleep after a certain time, so I'm forced to keep on going," Alicia said yawning.

"Really? Starlet don't need her beauty sleep?" Louise asked yawning as she stretched her arms.

"You little brat~" Alicia teased, "Mason wants to have a word with you when you're done."

"He does? Alright guess I'll grab a quick breakfast and head over to him, what's our next plan by the way?"

"Not sure, they're still working it out, the rest of the assault force is already here though. I suspect we'll be attacking Riang soon," Alicia said.

"Well the artillery are gone, so that means we got a good shot at liberating the city," Louise said, "I'm more concerned about the people inside of it."

"Don't worry about that," Alicia said as the two of them exited Louise's tent as they went and grabbed breakfast, "I heard that they have a resistance group inside."

"You mean like civilians fighting?" Louise asked as Alicia nodded.

"Yeah, been fighting ever since the occupation, they've done a pretty good job as well, so no doubt that'll make our job easier," Alicia said.

"Let's hope so or we'll have a tough fight on our hand," Louise said.

"Since when did a mission being 'tough' stop you?" Alicia asked.

"Since I've got friends to protect and worry about," Louise said with a smirk as Alicia grinned and ruffled her head, "stop that!"

"Haha yeah, yeah," Alicia said walking away as Louise went to Mason's tent as he gestured for her to come in.

"You're finally awake," Mason said with a smile as Louise apologised, "don't apologise I expected that, have a seat Louise."

"Did you wish to talk to me about something?" Louise asked as Mason nodded.

"I know that this might be going behind Luna's back...and I'm aware that she's your superior officer rank-wise," Mason said rubbing his hand uncomfortably.

"Sir?" Louise asked getting a little worried where this conversation was going.

"I would like your opinion on how Luna went during last night's mission," Mason said as Louise sat a little straighter, "I-I'm aware that the mission went off smoothly, obviously, but were there any problems?"

"I think this is something you should talk to Luna about," Louise said in a monotone voice, "I don't think I'm the right person-"

"You were always a good judge of character Louise," Mason said softly, "it was you that inspired Suzie to become a better soldier, it was you that continues to reign in Claudia so she doesn't overstep her limit, it's you that everyone seems to admire," as Louise blushed slightly at the last compliment.

"I'm just doing my duties sir," Louise replied.

"Aren't we all? But...this is my sister Louise, I don't know if you have siblings or not, but-" Mason said.

"I do have siblings sir," Louise said, "two older sisters. And that is why I believe that I shouldn't be the one answering these questions, it would be better if you ask Luna directly instead of asking me."

Mason looked at Louise for a while as Louise did not flinch, there were many times in her life that she wanted to tell other people about her problems in the academy. Professor Colbert was on top of that list since he was very supportive of Louise, however her pride both as a Valliere and as an individual trait would not allow that, that was why she entrusted all of her secrets to Cattleya; the only sister who believed in her completely. That was why Louise knew what to say, it was better for siblings to talk it out amongst themselves then for other people to interfere in their personal lives. Mason nodded slowly as he got up, "I believe you have a point, I'm sorry that I pulled you in for nothing, please forget this ever happened," Mason said.

"I'm glad I can be of service sir," Louise said, "will that be all?"

"Yes...you're dismissed," Mason said as Louise saluted him before leaving the tent. It was a strange conversation, but she was sure it was a much needed one as Louise only hoped that the Terry siblings could work things out. With the artillery gone the problem then changed to how to take out the outer guards before they realised that the artillery positions were compromised, time was against them and they had to make a plan soon. Of course that problem lay with Mason and the squad commanders as well as Andrew Rose, as he was in charge of this whole operation, as the other lower ranking soldiers mingled with one another as Louise was out enjoying the serene nature around her.

It had been a while since she had seen something as beautiful as the forest around her, she felt at ease here and she could almost imagine that she wasn't in a war as she closed her eyes. She breath in and out taking in the scented air of dirt and nature as she let a smile come on her face as she started to relax, "You look happy..." a soft voice asked as Louise opened her eyes to see Tabitha staring at her upside down.

"You're going to fall doing that," Louise said as Tabitha smiled before she then rolled and fell on top of Louise, who despite Tabitha's small size and weight, still felt a good amount of pressure, "that wasn't an invitation for you to fall on top of me."

"Hehe you felt nice that's all," Tabitha said as Louise patted her head.

"Where's Kirche and Guiche?" Louise asked.

"Flirting," as Louise tutted, Kirche used her curves and exotic looks to get the boys while Guiche was a hopeless casanova who wouldn't be able to string up a woman even if he was a handsome boy. It was a wonder why the two of them continued with their shameful way, perhaps they have a good reason to do it other then for their own ego? "I grew bored."

"I expect," Louise replied as she looked at the blue haired girl, "you've been doing well? You were talking about transferring to my squad."

"Wanted to, but others didn't, couldn't leave them behind," Tabitha said as Louise laughed.

"Oh yeah if you leave those two alone they'll shoot each other to pieces before the end of the week," she said. "Still...I wouldn't mind having you on my squad...would've made it a pleasant change."

"What do you think we'll be doing next?" Tabitha asked.

"I don't know, I just hope that we'll be able to save everyone inside," Louise said, "it's not fair for them to suffer like that...even back home the commoners never suffered when the nobles went off and fight each other."

Tabitha shrugged, "Then again...I've never really been on the battlefield back home so whatever I know of wars and fights is from my mother and sisters," Louise admitted as Tabitha smiled.

"Perhaps," Tabitha said simply as the two of them were content in spending silence in the middle of the forest, trying to forget about the fact that there was a war going on around them. Louise didn't think she had fallen asleep, but apparently she had as the next thing she knew was Alexander shaking her up as Louise groggily rubbed it.

"What's wrong Alexander?" Louise asked as she saw how panicked he looked, "What happened?" as Tabitha blinked the sleep out of her eyes at the same time.

"It's chaos!" Alexander said. "We need to get back to the base now! The Resistance tried to fight off the Confederacy and they're losing!"

"What! I thought they were supposed to wait until _after_ we came into the city!" Louise exclaimed.

"They must have gotten over-zealous when they heard the artillery were disabled, that was the only reason they didn't fight the Confederacy seriously," Alexander said as the trio quickly scrambled up and ran back into the base. It was, as Alexander put it, chaos as everyone was scrambling to break into the city now that the Resistance were fighting with full force, tanks were already rolling away as were trucks while weapons were hastily being given out and everything packed up into one big mess.

"There you are Louise!" Mason said looking a little worried, "Get onto a truck, any of them would do we're all going to start the assault now. Damn Resistance I thought I told them to stay put..." as Lousie had never seen Mason so flustered before in her entire time with him. Louise nodded and got onto a truck with Tabitha and Alexander following her as the truck then sped away as the sound of tank shells firing echoed across the battlefield.

"This is a mess," Alexander stated the obvious, "I really didn't think the Resistance would risk the city just to take the Confederacy out."

"Maybe there was a miscommunication?" Louise suggested optimistically, "Maybe the Resistance got the information wrong or something."

"That's impossible," Daniel said surprising Louise as she hadn't seen him there, "I heard one of the officers said that they sent a message to them not six hours ago telling them not to do anything until they had a plan, but what do they do? Start shooting the Confederacy like there's no tomorrow."

"Then what are we going to do? Isn't the gate still barred?" Louise asked.

"What else? Blast it down of course," Daniel said as Louise peeked out from the truck and saw tanks lined up in front of the gates before the gate was then reduced to splinters as it was bombarded by a line of tank shells. The trucks then rolled in as Louise and others got off the truck as she looked for Luna, in times like these the squad was expected to go to their second in command and await orders there.

"Good luck Tabitha and stay safe," Louise told the girl as said girl nodded and flashed a smile before rejoining Kirche and Guiche who were both asking where she was receiving only a shrug. When squad 13 got there Luna told them that they would be attempting to take the urban centre of the city, where most of the residents were, once they had that secured they would be able to make a full concentrated assault on the Confederacy strongholds.

"What are we expecting?" Louise asked as they talked while running from cover to cover.

"About a dozen or so infantry, the armoured division is somewhere down there so that's where our armoured division will be concentrating, we're more or less mopping up the infantry down here," Luna said as a rattling of gun fire forced them to take cover as Louise ducked behind a ruined statue. Peeking out she saw dozens of Confederacy soldiers holed up ahead and shooting at them as there were little cover in between them and the soldiers.

"So what now?" Louise asked as Luna was looking around trying to find a way in, there were buildings, but they wouldn't allow them to flank the enemy at all, plus they had a sniper on the rooftop firing on anyone that came into his sight as Luna flinched when a bullet came close to her. She seemed to be in a complete trance as Louise tried calling out her name a few times, "Luna," Louise said a little louder as the sergeant snapped out of her trance as she looked at her blankly, "a plan?" Louise asked.

"Oh r-right..." Luna said, "uhm...okay...there's an enemy sniper on the roof so obviously we take him out, then after that we'll have our sniper take them out one by one. They'll support us as we continue along this path, it's the only way possible," Luna said as Louise nodded. As much as she hated the plan, she knew that it was the only plan possible as she looked at Robert who nodded. After he had taken down the sniper on the rooftop the entire squad, with the support of the snipers, went and charged at the enemy position. The plan had somewhat worked as the enemy troops began to retreat to their stronghold as the squad didn't let up with the constant barrage of bullets. However once they reached the stronghold they were in a rut as the enemy was well defended and the squad was still exposed to heavy enemy fire.

"We got to take out that machine gun nest with that still there we'll be torn to shreds," Claudia said.

"Robert can you take them out?" Louise asked as he shook his head.

"They're too well covered, I can't get a bead on them," he said as Louise growled, they were fast running out of options, if they didn't finish this up soon then there was a chance that they would be overruned by the enemy. "Come on, come on there has to be a way..." Louise said to herself as a loud exploision occured at the rear of the stronghold as the Confederacy soldiers were yellling to each other as their attention was diverted.

"It's the Resistance!" Alexander said as Louise could see people fighting, they were of all age and gender and it was clear they were civilians as they wore no uniforms. Louise had to admire how the common people seemed to be the ones to do all the hard work, while the nobles were the ones safe and sound; that didn't seem to be fair...but then again when was life fair?

"Alright then they're fighting on two fronts now, press on the attack! They'll crack before long," Louise said as the squad redoubled their efforts as the enemy soldiers were in confusion as they didn't know who to attack first. Wearing the defences bit by bit eventually the soldiers gave up and retreated running away from the Resistance and squad 13 as there was a cheer from the Resistance members as Louise was just glad that they managed to secure the residential district of Riang.

"Thought we were in trouble for a moment there," Claudia said, "good thing the Resistance came at the right time," as a brown haired woman that reminded Louise more of a boy then a girl came up to them.

"You guys are with the Belfast militia right?" she asked rather arrogantly.

"Yeah that's right," Claudia said.

"Go home," the woman stated simply.

"Excuse me?" Claudia asked in surprise as Louise narrowed her eyes.

"Go home, we don't need you, the Resistance will be fine in taking care of these Confederacy filths," the woman said as the Resistance members nodded.

"Are you joking?" Claudia exclaimed, "You guys are getting your ass kicked! If you didn't jump the gun and start shooting you wouldn't be in this mess!"

"And if the military actually did their jobs in the first place we wouldn't be in this situation! Do you know how we've suffered because of the occupation? How many families destroyed?" the woman asked, "How will they live the rest of their life with their lives changed and destroyed forever?"

"Oh come off it," Claudia said hotly, "there's other villages and towns like that, you're not the only one! We're trying our best if you haven't noticed."

"Then go to those other towns and leave us alone, Jack will make sure that we get rid of them all, then we'll have our lives back," the woman said as the Resistance members agreed with her.

"What are you saying! Without the help of the military you'll be crushed, more people will die and nothing will get solved."

"No cost is too great when it comes to freedom. Eventually justice will prevail."

"Are you kidding me?" Claudia shouted as Louise decided to intervene.

"Ok that's enough," she said getting in the middle of them both, "I think we've all ascertained our viewpoints."

"Who's she?" the woman asked.

"Isn't it polite to tell me your name first before asking mine?" Louise asked slyly as the woman's eye twitched slightly in irritation.

"I'm Laura York, second-in-command of the Resistance force here in Riang," Laura said.

"Well I'm PFC Louise Valliere," Louise said, "I'm just a simple soldier in this war."

"Well maybe you should butt out of you're just a 'simple' soldier," Laura said as the squad giggled and laughed as the Resistance members blanched. "What?" she asked when she looked at them.

"Uhm...Laura...that's Louise Valliere..." one of the rebels said.

"So?" Laura asked.

"She's the Heroine of Barton," the rebel clarified further.

"What! The Heroine of Barton? The one that blew up that heavy tank behind enemy line?" Laura asked as the squad was now laughing at the expense of Laura as she seemed both embarrassed and angry, "This runt?"

"Hey I'm not a runt!" Louise said still a little touchy when it came to her height.

"Yeah you are, you look like one, I can't believe that someone like you is a heroine," Laura said, "and it still doesn't change the fact we don't need the military."

"Well then we don't need the Resistance either right?" Louise retorted as Laura's eye twitched again, "We could easily beat the Confederacy without you right?"

"You brat..." Laura growled, "we've been fighting the Confederacy since the start of this, we know them back to front. We're much better suited to fighting them then you guys are."

"Then why not work with us?" Louise asked.

"Because Jack said we'll be able to win this without help from the military," Laura said, "and he's always right. Jack has guided us since the beginning and everything he says is correct."

"Are you that blind? Do you even know that you're on the verge of defeat if we didn't rush in?" Louise asked.

"No sacrifice is too great!" Laura said as Louise wondered just how mad was this woman as she shook her head.

"You're insane," she muttered.

"Forget it Louise, a woman like her...won't listen to reason," Claudia said, "it's up to us to liberate Riang then."

"Yeah," Louise said in a disappointed tone, she had never seen a person so blinded to a cause before in her life. There was a limit to how much you can trust in a person without understanding the situation, it seemed that whoever this 'Jack' person was he was one smooth character as she tightened her eyepatch, "Come on we gotta move out, let's support the other squads," as they nodded.

"You think this Jack guy can be trusted?" Alicia asked as Louise shook her head.

"Someone who asks his followers to die for no reason? Absolutely not, but then again...I do like to meet him and see what he's like before I make a full evaluation," Louise said.

"So do I," Daniel said, "the Resistance seemed to be way too fired up despite their losses...I have a bad feeling about this group," as Louise looked back in concern.

"I think you're right Daniel..." as she felt a cold chill up her spine, "I really think there's something wrong with this group."


	17. Chapter 16: Battle for Riang P3

**Here's another chapter, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Thanks to those that have reviewed this story and I hope that I get more reviews.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero characters, just my OC**

* * *

It wasn't just squad 13 that was having trouble with the Resistance, it seemed that the Resistance changed its tune from wanting the help of the military to now treating them as nothing more then annoyances. They had refused help from the military and continually ask them to go away, this surprised the higher command since they were sure the Resistance asked for their assistance. This led to bad blood between the military and the Resistance and tensions were heating up, "Can't blame them," Alexander said, "they need us one minute and then the next they treat us like we're annoying them."

"It's that Jack guy he's the one riling them all up and telling them that we're not needed," one of the soldier said.

"Yeah! Why don't we let them do what they want and see if they come crying to us," another said.

"We can't do that," Claudia said, "they'll be slaughtered."

"So? They clearly told us we're not needed," as they continued to grumble and complain.

"Geez are they stupid or something?" Claudia asked.

"They're just angry that's all," Alicia said, "even I'm a little upset at how we've been treated."

"Still this isn't a good situation," Louise said looking at the angry and frustrated camp, "at this rate we won't be able to liberate Riang any time soon."

"Yeah and this takes us away from the other fronts as well," Claudia said, "so much for a quick resolution."

"Louise," Mason called out, "can you come with me for a moment?" as Louise nodded and walked with Mason as they went into his tent. "We're going to have a meeting with the Resistance leaders about the situation at hand, I would like for you to come," Mason said.

"Me? I-I'm just a PFC," Louise said in a surprised tone, normally it was only officers who ever attended meetings like those and not ordinary soldiers. She wondered if it was also because she was the Heroine of Barton? But no that couldn't be it either since Mason was a fair lieutenant and he wouldn't have allowed Louise in just because of her status, in which case he should've invited Claudia as well.

"You're a good judge of character," Mason clarified, "you're able to pick up on things that we don't, I want you to look at Jack and see what kind of person he is."

"Oh...so you want me to observe him?" Louise asked as Mason nodded, "Alright I understand, I'll try my best."

"Good get ready because we're moving out soon," Mason said as Louise nodded. An hour later they were in an abandoned building which used to be an office since there was an office which they were using to have the meeting. It was also the first time where Louise saw Jack, a 30 year old man with a charming personality that was complimented with his black hair and dazzling green eyes as he seemed to have a perpetual smile on his face. The moment that Louise saw him she had a cold chill up her spine, she had been to a lot of parties back in Tristain and therefore she had met a lot of nobles as a result of that. If there was anything she learned in those parties is that people can easily hide their true nature behind a false smile and sweet words, it sent a cold chill up Louise's spine whenever she met someone like that and this was what she was feeling right now.

"Good morning officers," Jake said with a smile, "I hope that you are all well?"

"We are," Andrew replied as they all took a seat.

"And why is a PFC joining us today?" Jack asked looking at Louise.

"She's my assistant," Mason replied coolly, "I have trouble sometimes remembering things and she's quite a good assistant."

"And your sister? Why can't she help you?" Jack said, "I seem to recall that you have a sister correct?"

"She's occupied at this moment," Mason said smoothly.

"Very well then now onto business, I think we are going to talk about your presence and how unnecessary it is?" Jack said.

"Do you really think that you don't need us?" Andrew asked, "You were the ones that asked us for help."

"That is correct, but after discussing it you'll only cause more danger than benefit to us. We're well on the way of eradicating those Confederacy soldiers out of Riang, surely there would be other places where you can be correct?" Jack said.

"That is preposterous, you'll be killed!"

"No sacrifice is too great, if it is for freedom then it is acceptable."

"Surely not everyone believes that!"

"You'll be surprised."

"You're insane! You need us here, we have the better equipment!"

"True, but we have the knowledge of the area, we've lived with those bastards for some time now. We know what makes them tick and we know what their strength and weaknesses are, that's much better than having the military intervene in our matters. The others agree with me as well they think that you'll harm our chances of finally getting some revenge."

"What matters is not revenge, but about getting rid of the Confederacy."

"Ah...that is where you are wrong because you don't understand how we think, we don't really care about the military you see. All we care about is making sure that the Confederacy soldiers pay for what they did to us by the time we're done with them they'll regret ever coming here," as Louise couldn't help but shiver even more. This man was not normal, the way he talked and held himself was far different than any noble that Louise had ever seen before...she was actually scared of the man as she tried to compose herself.

"You'll risk everything we've done just for some chance at getting revenge? The commander of the Confederacy here is not someone you want to mess with, he is a brutal man who will-" Andrew argued.

"And so are we," Jack retorted, "we can be brutal when we want to be do not underestimate our anger towards the Confederacy."

"Still...this is not how we fight this war, we are no better than them if we resort to this kind of brutality."

"I think that is up to the rebels to decide, now if there is no other pressing matters to attend to then I should be getting back to the Resistance."

"Wait we're not done here."

"On the contrary I think we are, I've made my point quite clear and further discussion will be futile," Jack said as he bade them goodbye before leaving as Andrew was flabbergasted as the meeting was adjourned abruptly.

"Hmm...that was interesting," Mason said as the two of them left the room and walked back to the base, "what did you think about him Louise?"

"One word: evil," Louise replied, "I've met a lot of people in my time...people who hid behind false words and pleasantries who were actually nothing more than manipulative people. But with him he's a different kind, I felt a cold chill up my spine when he spoke, I think we shouldn't trust him."

"My thoughts exactly," Mason said, "to be honest he's not the original Resistance leader, there was someone else who was leading the Resistance for a short while. But then he was killed during combat and Jack then took up that position, the nature of that incident is sketchy at best so we don't know the full story."

"What's our next plan then? Are we going to let the Resistance do whatever they want to do?"

"No we'll stick with the original plan we'll just have to do it without the Resistance's help, also Louise I need your help with something."

"What is it?"

"Our next mission involves taking out an enemy stronghold, said stronghold used to be the police station for Riang and it was heavily fortified before it feel to Confederacy control. I need you to take a crack team and infiltrate the police station and take it out from the inside, meanwhile I'll have the main bulk of the force distracting the soldiers."

"Why me? Why not Luna?"

"She's leading the whole thing, but I just want you to take care of her."

Louise raised an eyebrow at Mason before he added, "I'm worried about her that's all..."

"Uh ha...well alright I'll do it," Louise said, "after all who better to do it then the Heroine of Barton right?"

"That's part of the reason," Mason said.

"So how am I supposed to get inside the police station in the first place?" Louise asked as Mason grinned.

"Uhm...let's just say that Elise has a new invention up her sleeve and she's _very_ keen on having you try it out," as Louise had a bad feeling at the pit of her stomach.

"This...has...to be the most...insane invention you ever came up with," Louise said deadpanned as she looked down and saw that it was a good drop from where she was right now. Elise's bright idea of getting into the police station was a good piece of rope long enough from one rooftop to the closest window and a harpoon gun as she looked at Elise with disbelief.

"It'll work," Elise said, "trust me on it I experimented on it loads of time. We fire the gun into the window and then we climb stealthily and quietly while they're distracted and we're in! Easy peasy."

"Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things can go wrong?" Louise asked as Elise frowned before nodding, "This is one of them..."

"Well we don't have any other way of getting inside and this is the best plan possible," Alexander said optimistically as Louise sighed.

"Well at least if I fall it'll be a quick end," she said pessimistically.

"Don't say such scary things," Alexander said as Louise chuckled.

"Well let's see if this crazy plan of yours work Elise," Louise said as Elise nodded as they fired the harpoon gun as it went into the window and hit something as Elise then attached some sort of equipment. She then jumped onto it and slide down the rope before jumping into the window as Louise gaped.

"W-what is that?" Louise asked.

"Some crazy invention of hers I suspect," Claudia said, "though I have to admit that it's pretty damn good."

"T-true..." Louise said as her turn came up as she gulped, she wondered if this would really work or would she fall to her death? That would be a pathetic way to die...falling to her death...but at least it wouldn't be painful unless she broke something then it would be a slow death. Taking a deep breath she plunged herself into the whole thing as she felt herself flying as she laughed. It felt good to actually fly, for the first time she was actually flying, back home she could never actually fly and now she was. It felt great even if it was for a short while as she was quickly thrown into the room as she landed on her head as she groaned.

"You alright?" Alexander asked.

"Let me get back to you on that one," Louise said as she groggily got up and shook her head, they seemed to be in an office of some kind as Luna and Claudia were covering the entrance while the others were at the back. "Well we got through safely, let's just make sure that we don't mess this up," Louise said as Luna gestured for Claudia to clear the left hallway while Louise take care of the right hallway. Nodding the two of them then went as they slowly cleared the floor they were currently on right now, Louise was particularly making sure that she cleared each room as her injured eye didn't do her much good especially in something like this. Seeing suddenly moving she turned and raised her rifle only to see that it was the wind making a long forgotten stack of paper flutter away as she sighed. She then saw something else as she turned only to see it was Claudia, "Clear?" she asked as Claudia nodded, "Alright let's keep going down, I don't think there's anyone upstairs unless it's a sniper."

"Yeah I agree," Claudia said as they regrouped with the rest of the team as they slowly made their way down the building. The sounds of gunfire came even closer with each level as they finally reached the 1st level where Confederacy soldiers were shooting at squad 13 from the windows as Claudia took out a grenade and threw it at them as they were blown away. The team then went in and shot at any Confederacy soldiers in their sight, it was a complete surprise attack as none of them were expecting Belfast soldiers to come from behind them.

After taking care of the soldiers on the 1st level they proceeded to the ground level where the heaviest concentration was as this time Louise and Claudia threw the grenades taking out a chunk of the defenders. It was no brainer who won the battle overall as the Confederacy soldiers either surrendered or were killed as those that surrendered were hauled back to the base for processing. Taking POWs was something that was common nowadays amongst the military, they needed any information that they could get and even the lowest of soldiers would have some sort of information. "Good work you all, I knew that the plan would work," Mason said as he entered the police building, "now...to find some information."

"Information? On what?" Louise asked.

"Not what, who," Mason said, "I've got intel about that York woman you all met the other day. She's a former police officer, highly decorated, that worked on a particular case that has me interested."

"That woman was a police officer? She certainly didn't look like one."

"Yes well war can do that to you, want to come with me Louise? Maybe you can spot something I don't."

"Is that a challenge?"

"It's...yes it's a challenge," as Louise smirked as she followed Mason into the building and to the top floor where it seemed everything was frozen in time. There were desks untouched, papers piling up on them, dusty chairs and floors as Mason went to a table and began checking the papers on it. "This was Detective York's desk when she was on the police force, according to intelligence she was working on a serial murder case before the war began. Have you ever heard of Jack the Ripper?"

"Somewhat," Louise said, "only rumours though. Isn't he the guy that went off to different towns and killed people? Never caught is what I heard."

"True, however there was a breakthrough on one of the cases. Apparently this guy had a birthmark on his tongue," as Louise grimaced, "yes a strange place...but it's the only way to actually identify the person."

"And why are you interested in someone like Jack the Ripper?" Louise asked. "It can't be because of Jack right? He's just got a similar name."

"That...and others..." Mason muttered to himself as Louise continued to look over the paperwork. She discovered that Laura's brother was also working on the same case but was tragically killed by the murderer just before the war began, since then she had been on a personal vendetta against the serial killer and according to reports to the chief of the police there were worrying incidents where Laura had become almost crazed in her pursuit of the serial killer. Was this where her twisted sense of justice came from? Was this why she was so into it? Louise didn't want to think so but it made sense that a person's sense of justice would be warped because of an incident like this. "Well there's nothing here best if we get back to base, I'm sure the military would like to use this place as a forwarding base."

"Can't we take it as our own?" as Mason laughed.

"The militia taking a forwarding base as their own? No that's not possible, it's always the military that gets the good ones," Mason said with a smile as Louise looked at him before following him. "Now...looks like the battle is about to heat up, I'm sure that Confederacy isn't going to sit on their hands...we should expect a counter-attack soon."

"What do you need us to do?" Louise asked.

"Just be ready...that's all I can say, be ready," Mason said.

However Mason was incorrect in his assumption that the Confederacy was going to counter-attack they did the opposite of that as they simply holed up in various key positions and continued to repel both the Resistance and the military. No one could figure out why they were doing that since it made more sense to actually attack rather than defend. However no one was complaining since each day they were able to gain a little bit more ground though the Resistance members were much more brutal and passionate in it as squad 13 past by an execution ground where piles of bodies were left there after the Resistance shot the Confederacy soldiers. "This is horrible..." Claudia said, "they're turning into the very thing they're fighting against."

"Indeed," Alicia said, "and it's getting worse each day..."

"Jack must be putting them up to this," Louise said, "it has to be him. I can't imagine though why Laura would follow him that blindly knowing about this."

"Maybe she doesn't?" Alexander suggested.

"I doubt it...she seems to know everything that is going around the Resistance," Louise said.

"I'm getting worried that the Resistance is going to do something completely crazy," Claudia said, "maybe we should stop them before that happens."

"And get another enemy on our hands? No way," Adrian said.

"Oh shut up you pessimist," Alicia snapped as Adrian frowned. Getting off at their next destination the squad was now going to work with the Resistance members in taking out a supply depot. There were concerns that the Resistance would not be willing to work with the military, but it seemed that they were able to convince them otherwise as Laura was there as leader of the Resistance.

Louise looked at her and wondered how a woman like Laura could have been a police detective in her previous life, before the war, she tried to imagine Laura chasing down a culprit. It was quite a funny scene as she kept thinking of Laura shouting something about justice while chasing him as Louise giggled at the thought, however the Laura in front of her was anything but that as she had a serious look on her face as she talked to Mason quietly. He kept shaking his head and pointing to the base while Laura seemed to be pressing the matter as eventually she shook her head and stormed back to the rebels. "They want us to let the Resistance fight while we just support them," Mason told them.

"What!" Alicia exclaimed, "That's crazy! They'll be killed."

"That's what I told her, but she won't listen to a word I say," Mason said.

"Can we take the supply depot without their help?" Alexander asked.

"No we can't," Mason said, "the supply depot is protected by a strong frontal defence line. It's impossible to get past it even with the Falcon supporting you all. The only hope we have of taking it is if the Resistance go around the back and attack them to seperate their attention; of course naturally only the Resistance knows how to go around the back."

"So we're stuck?" Claudia asked.

"Basically," Mason said, "we need their help but at the same time I'm not quite keen on having the Resistance going and getting themselves killed."

"Well what else could we do?" Claudia asked.

"Not much that's the problem," Mason said with a sigh as he looked at the supply depot as it was sitting there seemingly mocking them with their strong defence position. Even if they did charge ahead and hope for the best there would undoubtedly be casualties. "Alright the only thing we can do is follow what the Resistance wants," as mouths began to open to protest as he cut them off, "it's the only way...I know it's not the ideal situation but if it means we take down that supply depot then so be it."

"Great that'll go well," Alicia muttered as Louise was half listening in as she noticed the rebels were leaving slowly and quietly as she wondered where they were going. Then suddenly there was a loud explosion as it made everyone jump as they then saw the Resistance already starting the assault without them. "Do they really have a death wish?" Alicia shrieked.

"Damn it," Mason cursed as he quickly climbed on board the Falcon, "all units engage the enemy!" as squad 13 charged ahead as they braved the machine gun fire splattering everywhere as Resistance members were falling like flies. Mason turned the cannon of the Falcon at the nearest nest as he fired sending the position into oblivion while Louise ducked behind a burned out tank as bullets pinged off the armour. Another boom later and the other nest was destroyed as Louise took off firing off her rifle as she took down a few Confederacy soldiers, the Resistance didn't seem to falter in the face of adversity as they continued to charge towards the enemy. They were also brutal beyond comprehension as they seem to take pleasure in killing their enemies, too much pleasure, as another chill ran down Louise's spine.

"You're okay Louise?" Alexander asked as Louise looked at him and nodded trying her best not to show any fear. Taking a deep breath she continued onwards as several Angels took to the sky and honed in on the Resistance members, without the new bullets the Resistance guns were useless as the Angel's modified armour protected them from any gunfire. They were quickly routed as the Angel's lance pierced through multiple people as the squad had to back the Resistance up as the Angels were forced back due to the new bullets being used.

"Alright now that they're gone we can concentrate on-" Claudia began as another wave of rebels began assaulting the base as she gaped, "they're still at it?"

"They must really be determined to take out this supply depot...I wonder why..." Alexander said.

"We can't get distracted let's finish this off as fast as possible," Mason said as they continued onwards, but the further they went the heavier the concentration of enemies as a tank shell exploded near Louise sending her to the ground.

"Louise!" Alexander cried out helping her up, "You okay?"

"Y-yeah...we can't keep this up," Louise said as she stumbled to cover.

"Damn it they must really like this supply depot," Claudia said, "I've never seen such a concentrated defense before."

"Kya!" Elise cried out as sparks came out of the Falcon, "I-I can't keep repairing the Falcon, it's going to be destroyed at this rate."

"Brother we have to pull out!" Luna shouted as they could hear Mason groaning from the radio, "At this rate the Falcon will be destroyed!"

"I can't leave the Resistance behind," Mason argued.

"It's not about the Resistance now it's about us, if we keep this up one of us is going to get shot, or killed," Luna said as Louise could see her trembling slightly. It seemed that Luna still feared death, but that was understandable as Louise had a feeling that they weren't going to make it if they continued to push on.

"She's right Mason we have to pull out," Louise said, "there's no other way."

"But..."

"This isn't the time to think with your heart, but with your head Mason. We hate this as much as you do, but look at us! We're exhausted and we're nearly out of ammo, at this rate everything will be lost."

There was no sound from the radio as Louise wondered if Mason was making a decision or whether he was just trying to rationalise with himself before a defeated Mason conceded defeat, "Squad 13 fall back, I repeat all units retreat," as there was a collective sigh from everyone as the squad then retreated from the battlefield. Louise took one last look at the fight as the Resistance were continuing to press on despite the militia retreating from the battlefield as Louise wondered if Laura was alright and whether or not she was seeing this carnage unfold in front of her.


	18. Chapter 17: Battle for Riang P4

**Time for another chapter! Thanks to everyone who reviewed it and I hope more review, it would be good to get lots of review for my stories!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero characters, just my OC**

* * *

Squad 13 had suffered their worst defeat since the start of the war as they trudged back to the military forward base to rest and rearm themselves. They could still hear the gunfire and explosions that was indicative of continued firefight as Louise wondered what would happen next. Would the Resistance finally be able to take the supply depot or would it end in total failure? Either way Louise was not happy on how the Resistance has played this…they were almost suicidal with their attacks and they didn't seem to want to give it up either. What was driving them to do this? What was their motivation to continue such a futile effort? Louise was in a state of disbelief as she took a gulp of water from her canteen before trying to get some sleep as Alexander was next to her, "You okay?" Alexander asked.

"Define okay," Louise said.

"As in you're not going to go do something crazy and try to save the day like you did when you blew up that tank in Barton."

"Ah then…no…wait let me get back to you on that one…"

"I'm serious Louise if you are going to do something crazy you better tell me."

"So you can stop me?

"No so I can make sure you come back in one piece, or at least how you left the base that is."

"Haha don't worry I won't do something like that…I'm not that keen to have myself shot up again."

"Alright but if you are going to do something crazily heroic make sure you tell me okay?"

"Alright alright I will geez Alexander you're such a worry wart."

"That's because I care about you…" he replied though he said this in a soft whisper as Louise blushed but pretended not to hear it.

"Hey you two you guys done?" Alicia called out as Louise and Alexander snapped out of their trance, "The fight's over Mason wants us to have a meeting with the Resistance," as Alicia turned though she was smiling to herself while giggling.

"L-let's go," Louise said as Alexander mutely nodded as the two of them tried not to blush as they went to where the Falcon was as the met up with the others, "what happened in the end?"

"They took the supply depot," Claudia said as Louise was surprised that they were able to do it without support from the military, "but it cost them a lot of their men."

"Figures," Adrian said, "what were they thinking trying to assault the base without any help?"

"Because they were trying to get a tank," Mason said peering through the binocular as Louise saw a dust cloud approaching them before a tank came into view.

"That's why they were so determined to take out that supply depot? To get a tank? Couldn't they get it someplace else?" Adrian exclaimed.

"Probably not the tanks are quite troublesome to open once it's been sealed," Alice explained, "they probably didn't have the know-how or the equipment to steal a tank. So the only way they could get one is by taking out the supply depot and stealing a brand new one though that was quite reckless and desperate for them."

"But why just one tank? There has to be dozens of them out there right?" Alicia said.

"Not really I heard that most of the armoured division for the Confederacy are holed up in their main stronghold, no doubt they're thinking of counter-attacking as soon as it's convenient for them."

"Oh great so that means we're really going to be in trouble without some heavy artillery support," Adrian remarked, "how else can this day get any worse?"

What was left of the Resistance then rolled past them as they didn't engage in any conversation with the militia, most were looking worn down and tired though a few seemed to be pleased with what happened. "How could they act as though nothing happened?" Alicia asked.

"I don't know...it's almost scary to see them like this," Elise said.

Louise then spotted Laura as she was walking down the road as Louise shuffled a little bit to her right as Laura passed right by her as she whispered to the woman, "Was it worth it? Was everything worth a single tank?"

"If it means winning the war then yes," Laura said without missing a beat.

"You're insane..." Louise growled, "I can't imagine how you could act like this even though so many of your friends died."

"Their sacrifice won't be forgotten they'll be remembered."

"Yes and the pain their families will feel will always be remembered."

"For the price of justice that is acceptable."

"Justice...what a hypocrite you are...you're a disgrace to those that really fight for justice. Your brother must be rolling in his grave," as Louise then felt a sharp pain on her face as she was sent to the ground before she felt pressure on her neck.

"I dare you to say that again!" Laura shouted as a dozen clicks echoed as Resistance and squad members faced off with weapons drawn.

"I'm right..." Louise gasped, "you know I'm right...there's no way a former police officer like you wouldn't be like this if you didn't believe in justice anymore."

"Shut up! What I'm doing is right, you don't know what the Confederacy has done to us, you don't know how we suffered."

"And by sinking as low as the Confederacy that'll bring everyone back? That will punish the Confederacy? Or will it only add more sins to your already long list of crimes?" as Louise felt even more pressure on her neck.

"That's enough Laura there's no need to make this worse than it already is," Jack said as he walked towards them.

"But-" Laura began.

"I said it's enough," Jack said sternly as Laura took a deep breath and growled before releasing her foot from Louise's neck as she coughed and gasped for air as Alexander helped her up. "I think it's time for us to depart than, there is no need to dawdle any longer. And perhaps the militia needs to take care of what they say to us..."

"I won't retract what I said," Louise said, "you all know I'm right. The entire assault was a complete massacre and all that for one tank? Is the price worth it?" as some of the rebels shifted from one foot to the other nervously and uncomfortably.

"Louise don't push it," Alexander hissed as Louise fell silent she had said what needed to be said and it was up to them to figure it out on their own. The Resistance quickly left the scene as the squad sighed in relief.

"That was the most insane stunt you've ever pulled," Mason said with a groan, "you're really going to get killed one day."

"He's right that was the most craziest thing I've ever seen you do," Claudia said, "nearly gave me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry," Louise said, "but I had to say it. Too many people have already died in this war...too many innocents...I...I..." as she balled her hand into a fist.

"Still you have to be careful...the Resistance is really on edge and there's no telling what they'll do," Mason said, "I mean it PFC Valliere don't antagonise them again."

"Yes sir I'll make sure of that," Louise said as Mason nodded as the squad went off to their own things as Louise was left alone with Alexander again as they spent a moment in silence. "I'm sorry," Louise whispered.

"When I said tell me if you were going to do something crazy I also meant tell me if you're going to antagonise a whole platoon of rebels," Alexander said as Louise nodded. "Don't ever do that again."

"I won't."

"I mean this time Louise," Alexander said banging the Falcon as she looked at Alexander, she had never seen him so upset before, usually he was always calm and optimistic. But this time he had a hurt look on his face, "You've been in this situation too many time now...where you've almost died or done something incredibly stupid."

"Alexander I-"

"NO!" Alexander shouted surprising Louise as he grabbed Louise and hugged her, "No...just...just don't do it ever again okay? I mean it Louise...I don't want to lose you...I can't lose you," as she could feel the pain and sorrow behind the voice as Louise hugged him back.

"Ok...I promise Alexander...I'll try my best not to do anything or say anything crazy okay?" Louise said with a small smile.

"You mean it?"

"I mean it unless I have to do it to save you or someone else then I'll have to break that promise," as Alexander hugged tighter.

"But...you'll come back right?" he asked quietly.

"Of course I'll come back I'm Louise Valliere, I can't die here," as Alexander lightly laughed.

"That's right...not until you've seen home right?" he said.

"Not until I'm done with my life period," Louise said as the two of them laughed.

"Alright this is it guys," Mason said a week later, "this is the big one. The final push against the Confederacy, we've been working our asses off to get them out of here and we've finally managed to push them to a corner. If we take down this final stronghold that'll be a huge step in our war against the Confederacy."

"No thanks to the Resistance," Adrian muttered, "I swear ever since they got that tank they've gotten more and more reckless each day."

"Doesn't help that they avoid us because of what Louise said," Robert agreed.

"Well this time hopefully we won't need the Resistance's help," Mason said, "our mission is to help the 4th squad and aid them in attacking the right flank. We plan on surrounding the stronghold and forcing them out, if we do that then we have a good chance of pressuring them to either surrender or they'll go do something reckless which would benefit us. Either way we'll have to be careful as the Confederacy is going to give it everything they got in defending that stronghold. Arm up, prepare yourselves and let's take back this town."

The squad roared their approval before they all dispersed to get their own preparations ready, "So we're working with the 4th squad again huh? You sure you'll be alright Louise?" Alexander asked.

"Mhm I have Tabitha backing me up, she'll make sure Guiche and Kirche don't bother me too much," Louise said, "I also have you guys too."

"Of course we're always willing to help our heroine," Alexander said, "and Louise about the other day-"

"I won't do anything reckless. I promise you," Louise said, "I'll make sure to stick with you like glue."

"Well not exactly like glue, but it seems you got the basic idea."

"Don't worry I won't let anything happen."

"Ok..."

"Thanks Alexander, you and others are the best friends I could ask for," Louise said with a smile before going to the departure point as they got onto a truck before it drove off to the assault point where they would meet up with the 4th squad and begin the attack. Everyone was nervous because they didn't know what would happen, it was well noted that the final stronghold was quite sturdy and there were many choke points which the Confederacy used extensively to kill anyone coming through it. They would need all the luck in the world to get through this alive as Louise stared at the ground throughout the entire trip not wanting to see the faces of her comrades as the sound of gunfire and explosions became louder and louder.

"Alright this is it," Mason said through the radio, "the assault has already started. Rendezvous with the 4th squad, I'll be doing my best to provide you all with cover fire, but I'll be more concentrated on taking out any defensive structures. Good luck 13s."

"Come on guys let's do this," Luna said as she was out of the truck first as the rest of the squad followed as they were immediately thrown into an inferno of death and carnage as machine gun fire roared above them. Louise ran hard as she felt the hot bullets whiz past her as she prayed that she would be able to survive this initial onslaught as she moved from cover to cover.

"This is insane!" Adrian shouted, "How do they expect us to get into the stronghold when we can't even get into the outer perimeter?"

"We'll find a way," Luna said as the 4th squad reconverged before meeting up with the 13th squad as Tabitha, Guiche and Kirche ducked beside them.

"Fancy seeing you here Valliere," Kirche said with a smile.

"Not now Zerbst," Louise said, "you can mock me later. Right now I'm more concerned in getting all of us alive."

"Snipers I want you to take out the machine gunners," Luna said.

"No can do," Robert said, "they're too heavily entrenched. We need someone to smoke them out," as Alexander unconsciously grabbed Louise's arm to prevent her from volunteering as she looked at him as he sheepishly let go as she smiled.

"Alright 4th squad can you do that?" Luna asked as they nodded before going off and trying to flank the machine gun nest as the 13th squad provided covering fire. However that plan did not work as well since there were so little cover the machine gunners cut down anyone that even stood up forcing the 4th squad to stall and stay where they were.

"This isn't working we need another plan," Claudia said as they were starting to get pushed back and there was no way to advance forward. Just then three trucks sped past them as they looked wondering what kind of crazy driver was doing it as the trucks slammed into the defensive structures and exploded in a fiery fireball taking out anyone near it. The machine gunners were incinerated as they gaped as there was only one explanation for such an insane and ethically disgusting act.

"Resistance members..." Luna said, "they...they blew themselves up."

"Goddamn it I thought they weren't going to fight with us anymore," Daniel said, "what the hell do they think they're doing?"

"I don't know but this is bad, really bad," Louise said as she half expected Resistance members to come storming into the stronghold. "Didn't Mason said that the Resistance wasn't going to help us?"

"He said that they _might _not help us," Luna said, "but whatever they did it's give us the advantage. Storm that outpost I want it taken out," as the combined might of 4th and 13th squad charged ahead as they braved the bullets and mortar rounds as Louise took out two soldiers with her rifle. Claudia was gunning anyone down as she pulled a grenade out and threw it into a bunker as it exploded before she cleared it out as the outpost was quickly taken, with that momentum they continued onwards as they took down line after defensive lines as they quickly wormed their way into the centre of the stronghold. However Louise was having a bad feeling, a very bad feeling, this fight was too easy. The only worthy defense was the outer defense but once inside it was though they didn't put enough men into the inner parts of the stronghold, others were having the same thought judging by their facial expressions.

"Oh great...rebels," Robert said as Louise saw the entire Resistance army going inside and shooting anyone that wore a Confederacy uniform as the rest of the Belfast army soon barged inside as well and before long the entire Confederacy army were routed. It seemed like a perfect victory, the final stronghold had been taken and the Confederacy were either dead or retreating as the rebels began to celebrate. "Anyone sensing that this isn't going to end well?" Robert asked as they all nodded.

"He's right something is wrong," Mason said climbing out of the tank, "this was too easy. There should have been more soldiers and tanks here."

"Wait..." Louise muttered to herself as she was remembering something from one of her mother's stories about her time as a soldier, something about a city and trapping the occupants inside..."it can't be!" she exclaimed as she raced to the top and saw through her binocular as she saw dozens of infantries and armoured vehicles coming out and heading towards them. "It's a trap! They've trapped us!"

"What? Impossible," Andrew said as he looked as well in aghast, "b-but how? How could they have slipped past us so easily?"

"I think I know why," Louise growled as she saw the one face that she didn't want to see. Jack was riding at the head of the army with a grin on his face.

"The Resistance betrayed us?" Adrian asked as they all looked at the Resistance members who were equally shocked that their leader would betray them.

"W-we didn't!" Laura exclaimed, "I don't know why but...but...but we didn't betray you all."

"Then how the hell do you explain your leader riding at the head of the army?" Adrian asked.

"Sir," one of the soldier said running to them, "we found the Colonel of the Confederacy...he's...he's dead sir! Throat slit open."

"I knew it..." Mason muttered to himself as Louise looked at him in question as he shook his head.

"What?" Andrew roared, "What is going on here? Why is the Colonel dead and Jack out there?"

"Most likely he must have killed the Colonel and took control of the Confederacy forces," Alexander said.

"Impossible," Laura said, "Jack would never side with the Confederacy."

"But what if he was a Confederacy in the first place?" Alexander argued.

"You mean...he's a spy?" Suzie asked.

"Probably, it would make sense with how the Resistance's methods and tactic changed once we arrived," Alexander said.

"But...but he led us during the occupation. He planned every attack with accurate details!" Laura defended.

"Yes he defended the Resistance because he needed them, he wanted the Belfast military to eventually help them and after that he would somehow get rid of us in one fell swoop and we played right into his hands."

"Never really did like the guy very much," Kirche said, "always thought there was something wrong with him."

"Only because he didn't fall for your charms," Guiche said earning him a smack from the Germanian mage.

"What do we do now Colonel?" Mason asked Andrew as the Colonel's face was set to stone as he tried to think up a plan.

"We're surrounded and most of the defensive structures are obliterated by us," Claudia said, "we'll be sitting ducks at this rate."

"Can't we call for help? There has to be some way to call for help right?" Adrian asked.

"It'll take too long...this is all that Belfast can spare," Mason said, "by the time reinforcements arrive..."

"Damn we're in a pinch," Alicia said as Alexander looked at Louise as she shook her head.

"I can't use _that_ constantly. It'll weary me out, eventually I'll get too tired and collapse," Louise whispered as Alexander sighed, "I'm sorry..."

"No it's fine," Alexander said, "how about your friends?"

"The others will be too obvious...flames, water and earth magic will be quite obvious that something is afoot. With my magic at least it can be put as something else," Louise whispered.

"We'll have to hold out," Mason said as the officers were dismissed after having an emergency meeting, "we'll have to make our stand here. At least until they can arrive."

"I thought you said there weren't going to be any reinforcements," Luna said.

"Oh well these guys aren't with the military," Mason said, "the Colonel doesn't know this, but I asked a friend of mine, who's a well known mercenary, to come and help us when the time comes."

"Can you trust this guy? Mercenaries aren't really the most honest kind," Claudia said.

"I know him pretty well, he's basically a family friend," Mason said with a wink.

"How long do we have to wait till he gets here?" Claudia asked.

"Around...4 hours max," Mason said.

"Great...so we just have to make sure that they don't kill us for four hours. That should be easy," Adrian said.

"You have a better plan?" Alicia asked.

"Alright, alright let's not fight," Mason said, "our job is to defend the eastern part of the stronghold, there's a lot of good cover there and vantage points. We should take advantage of that and exploit it as best we can, make sure that you stay out of their range, they don't seem to be using Angels. Probably too over-confident in that they could defeat us without the use of the Angels. But it doesn't mean that we can take it easy, let's put all our effort into this and make sure they don't breach our line."

"As long as the others make sure they're not breached," Adrian muttered. With that said the rest of the military spread out and tried to hold up as long as they could, morale was not good as they perceived themselves to be well and truly trapped without any sort of aid. The Resistance tried to help but no one wanted to acknowledge them and they were segregated into the rear of the entire place as Louise noticed that Laura was nowhere in sight as she wondered where did the former police officer went off to. She would've expected her to be asking Mason or someone to let the Resistance fight, it was actually quite strange to not see her anywhere.

"Hey has anyone seen Laura?" Louise asked as they all responded in the negative as she frowned.

"Why you looking for her anyways? She didn't want us to help her," Robert said.

"That was before..." Louise said.

"Come on Louise we don't have time to dawdle they're nearly at the gates," Alicia said.

"Yeah coming," Louise said as she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen to Laura, as much as she hated the woman for blindly following someone and getting in this situation she couldn't make herself truly hate the woman. She was as much a victim of this as everyone else was.

"I'll cover you," Alexander said seeing Louise's expression, "go ahead and look for her."

"Yeah don't worry Louise we'll make sure that those Confederacy soldiers don't get anywhere near you," Suzie said as Louise nodded.

"Thanks you two," as Louise went into the main building, the only place she had not yet searched, as she looked all over the place for Laura. It wasn't easy looking for a single person as the main building was large with a lot of rooms, no doubt the living quarters of the Confederacy officers, a briefing room and an armoury which had already been stripped clean by the military. She finally found Laura at the top of the building overlooking the Confederacy army as she could hear her sniffling and crying.

"I thought...I thought you be the one to find me," Laura said as Louise was surprised that Laura was able to sense that she was there. Perhaps it was a cop thing. "You always did seem to have some sort of supernatural power."

"I don't have such a thing," Louise said _unless you count magic but she couldn't know that right?_ she thought to herself since only Alexander knew and he would never tell anyone.

"My father, and his father before him and his father before him were cops you know," Laura said.

"Really? I didn't know," Louise said.

"Don't lie I know you know. You looked through my papers and reports when you were in the police building.

"How do you know?"

"Because I checked the moment I heard the your squad liberated the station. All of my reports, documents, profile was gone...I don't know if you took it or the military took it but it's gone."

"Well alright...yeah my lieutenant told me that your family was a distinguished one, it's not that bad actually...having a police officer as parents."

"Yeah...I guess so...dad died in the line of duty and so did my brother...my mother...my mother didn't want me to become a police officer. She didn't want to lose her only child left in this world, but I wanted to catch him so badly."

"Jack the Ripper?"

"Yes...him...he caused everything, he killed my brother, I swore that I wouldn't rest until I caught him. But then the war came and I had to drop it to fight with the Resistance and for a while I was conflicted: should I fight for freedom or should I continue my pursuit of Jack? Then...he came. Jack came and told me that the most important thing in the world was justice, and that meant getting justice for all those that were oppressed by the Confederacy. For a while I believed him, I adored him perhaps...perhaps I even loved him a little..." as Louise sensed the admiration and awe in Laura's voice. It was the same admiration and awe that Suzie had whenever she talked about her and Louise had a horrible discovery of what Suzie could've turned into if Louise ever fell into despair and darkness like she did when she found out she lost her eye. A person so devoted to her that she wouldn't care if she committed the most horrible of crimes, if it was all in the name of Louise. It made her glad that she didn't fall into despair and was able to rebound back from it.

"I can understand somewhat," Louise replied, "I have a friend who admires me a lot. She's practically my fan."

"You're lucky...at least your sense of justice never wavered," Laura said softly. "You were right...I didn't know what I was doing, everyday I had to order more men to their deaths as per Jack's order. Each time I sent them I knew that in my heart I was doing the wrong thing, that I shouldn't be doing this, but I suppressed it...I didn't let it come out. Because I wanted to sincerely believe that Jack was right and that the end justified the mean."

"You can still make it right Laura, you can still fight with us, I'm sure the military will be more then happy for the extra hand."

"No it's too late...it's too late...my justice, my oath as a police officer, I've betrayed it. You were right Louise...my brother would be disgusted with me."

"I'm sure he would've understand, I'm sure he would have forgiven you."

"No...no he wouldn't...even I'm disgusted with myself," Laura said as she took out a silver revolver from her belt as her hand shook. "I'm such a pathetic human being, I don't even deserve to ask for forgiveness."

"Laura don't do this," Louise said taking a step as Laura turned to face her, "please Laura think about it for a moment. You're the only one right now that can rally the Resistance without you they're lost and wouldn't know what to do. You can make things right, you can help us."

Laura shook her head, "No it's fine...they'll do fine without me. I've betrayed everyone anyways...they wouldn't listen to me," as she put the barrel of the gun on her head as a tear fell from her eyes. "Don't bother burying me Louise...let the crows feed on me...I don't deserve a funeral...I don't deserved to be remembered," as a single shot echoed above the city of Riang.


	19. Chapter 18: Battle for Riang P5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero characters, just my OCs**

* * *

Louise was on the ground panting slightly as a confused Laura was underneath her, the silver revolver next to her as the bullet missed completely. "W-why?" Laura asked, "Why did you save me?"

"Isn't it obvious? Because I don't want you to die," Louise replied.

"But I'm not worth it, I betrayed everything I stood for, everything that my father and brother fought for. I betrayed myself," Laura replied tearfully.

"That doesn't matter...betrayals are hard yes. They're painful especially when you set a high goal for yourself and you failed to do it. But you know what? That doesn't matter. Because if you fail then you just pick yourself up again and keep at it, you continue to keep fighting no matter what. If you fail again then get up and keep on walking until you succeed."

"I killed them! I killed all of those men I sent, I trusted in Jack and all that resulted was in more people being killed!"

"And you think killing yourself will make it better? That it'll bring all of them back? No it won't. If you want to make it right then this isn't the way to go; killing yourself will only make them hate you more. That you were a coward who decided to run away rather than face her crimes," as Laura flinched when she was called a coward. "By continuing to live, by fighting against the Confederacy until they're driven out of Belfast...that's how you should do it, continue to live with the guilt. Because that guilt will make you a better person."

"But there's nothing else for me to believe in...justice...justice was something I used to believe in but now even that is gone. What else can I believe in? What else can I protect?"

"Then believe in me," as Laura looked at her confusingly, "believe that I will make sure that you walk the right path. That I will make sure that you never waver from your objective ever again, I'll be the voice of reason, if you ever doubt something then I'll be the one to make sure if what you are doing is correct and just."

"I...I don't know..."

"Well you better know it soon Laura because the enemy is right in front of us, are you going to just sit here and let innocent people be killed? Or are you going to take responsibility for what you did and make sure that from here on in you do the right thing?"

Laura didn't speak for a moment as the two of them looked into each other's eyes as Louise's eye blazed with determination and passion. The determination to protect what was dear to her and at the same time the passion to fight for what was right; Laura had never seen such determination before in another person's eyes, even the most passionate of recruit paled in comparison to the determination she saw in Louise's eye, "How do you remain this passionate...why hasn't the war scarred you?"

"Hehe...it has in more ways than one," Louise said with a soft smile, "but I had friends who supported me and cared for me. If I didn't have them...then I wouldn't be here."

"Friends...I...I never really made friends..."

"Then perhaps it's time that you make one," Louise said as she got up and offered her hand, "what do you say then Laura York? Are you ready to believe in justice once again and fight for what is right?" as Laura looked at Louise before nodding as she took her hand.

"Yes...I'm ready...thank you Louise Valliere I...I almost made the biggest mistake of my life," as Louise grinned.

"We all make mistakes, just depends on whether you learn from them or not," as the two of them got down from the building as the gates were about to be breached as Alexander ran up to them.

"They're nearly on us, are you guys okay?" he asked panickingly, "I thought I heard a shot somewhere above me."

"Yeah just a mistake," Lousie said as she looked at Laura.

"Alright...alright let me think for a moment...where are the other Resistance members?"

"Holed up over there, they've been trying to help but the army keeps brushing them off," Alexander said.

"I thought as much okay let me talk to them, I'll have them ready to fight," Laura said.

"You'll need to deal with the military though," Alexander said, "though I doubt any of them will give you problems," as Laura nodded.

"Thank you Louise...I'll make sure to fight for real now," Laura said before running off as she gathered the Resistance members and rallied them.

"So...what really happened up there?" Alexander asked as Louise smiled mischievously.

"Nothing you should worry yourself over Alexander," as he sighed.

"Sometimes I really worry for you," as the gates were finally breached as they snapped and got into cover as the first bullets flew at them.

"Louise you're back!" Suzie said hugging her.

"Of course I'll be back I'm not going to abandon my friends, now come on you guys let's drive them back!" as they all popped out of their cover and laid down some heavy fire as that stalled the Confederacy soldiers for a moment. Then heavily armoured soldiers came up as they wielded heavy shields, defending their comrades as they hid behind the shields and fired on the militia. "Looks like they brought out a new toy for us to play with," Louise said jokingly.

"Damn not even our new bullets are working on it," Claudia said as the bullets simply pinged off the heavy shields, but when the anti-tank soldiers fired on it it sent the soldier a good few meters backwards as well as cracking the shield.

"Good old anti-tank technology," Daniel said, "looks like their shield isn't invincible after all."

"Alright anti-tank units take out all the shielded soldiers while the rest of the squad concentrate on the infantry," Mason said as the remaining Belfast tanks concentrated on the enemy tanks as they fired their cannons at them.

"Damn it there's just too many of them," Claudia said as Lousie lost track of how long they had been fighting, Mason's friend better arrived soon or else all of them would be dead.

"Argh!" Alicia cried out as a tank shell exploded near her as her leg was badly wounded as she kept cursing as Daniel dragged her to safety.

"Alicia hang in there!" Louise said as Alicia grimaced and put a thumbs up.

"There's...no way in hell I'm dying here," Alicia said, "though it's looking pretty bad..."

"Louise..." Suzie whimpered fearfully as she shook with fear, "are we going to make it?"

"Don't lose hope!" Louise shouted, "Believe in yourself. I know all of you are much better then this, you can beat these odds!"

"Hell yeah!" Claudia said, "I ain't going to let these idiots get the better of me."

"Well I guess there's little choice," Adrian said before sneaking away to another location.

"We believe in you Louise," Luna said, "I trust you."

"You guys alright?" Laura asked as she threw a grenade as it exploded and took out a few soldiers with it.

"Barely holding on how are the other lines?" Louise asked.

"Just as bad," Laura said, "I certainly didn't expect that new unit of theirs. It's a real pain in the ass."

"Oh crud..." Alexander said, "I'm nearly out of ammo."

"Same here," Robert said, "this isn't looking good."

"Come on...where are you?" Louise muttered to herself as she reloaded her last magazine in as she took a deep breath as she looked at Alexander and Suzie. "Well here goes our last stand...you guys ready?"

"Wherever you go Louise I'll follow you," Alexander said.

"You defended me when no one else did, for you I'll do anything," Suzie said, "you're the one I can count on no matter what."

"Then let's show them what the finest of the Belfast militia can do!" Louise shouted though just as she did this a loud explosion echoed as the Confederacy soldiers were sent outwards as black armoured troops attacked them from the rear.

"Ah...there's my friend," Mason said cheerfully despite the Falcon being heavily damaged as Elise had been working full time on it.

"Come on!" Louise said a little upset that her moment of glory had been stolen, "I just made an inspirational speech as well! Everyone was riled up," as Alexander chuckled.

"Better luck next time Louise," he said as the mercenaries quickly routed the Confederacy soldiers as she then saw Laura running past them.

"Laura!" Louise called out having an idea of where Laura was going to go as she chased after her as Alexander was already on her heels as well. "Laura stop it's not going to do you any good."

"He has to pay," Laura said, "I'm not going to let him get away."

"Wait Laura just take a moment to think about it," Louise said as the three of them were then blocked by none other then the Deloitte sisters as they grinned at them. "Oh great just who we need," she grumbled.

"Hey there," Hansel said with a wave, "how you been?"

"I'm sure you have lots to talk about with Master Jack, but he's busy at the moment and can't take any talks," Gretel added.

"Master? So you two know him?" Louise asked.

"Of course," Hansel replied cheerfully, "he's the one that taught us how to kill in the first place."

"So he is with the Confederacy," Laura growled, "and I let him play me like a puppet."

"Yep~ it was so much fun for him, he told us to tell you that he enjoyed your continued advances towards him and that he look forward to meeting you next," Hansel said.

"Bastard I'll kill him," as a dozen knives stopped her in her tracks.

"As we said we can't let you pass until he's escaped, so you're going to have to deal with us," Gretel said.

"Fine then I'll take care of you jokers then find that bastard," Laura said grabbing a machine gun from a dead Shocktrooper.

"It wouldn't do that Laura these two are top assassins from the Confederacy, I think we should back out of here now," as Laura looked hesitant, "I mean it Laura the time for revenge isn't now. Trust me."

"But-" Laura said before catching the eye of Louise looking at her as Louise's words echoed in her mind _Believe in me..._that was what Louise had said to her as she nodded trusting Louise's words. "Ok...I'll believe in you Louise...I'll hold on until the time comes."

"Thank goodness..." Alexander muttered to himself.

"Let's go then before more of these guys showed up," Louise said as they slowly backed away as the Deloitte sisters continued to smile at them as Louise thought that they were going to let them go. Laura however made the mistake of turning her back towards the Deloitte sisters as Louise barely saw the flashing blades before she did the only thing she could do. "Look out!" as she tackled Laura to the ground as Laura's eyes widened. Blood poured from Louise's back as several knives were embedded on Louise's back as her eyes were semi-focused.

"W-why?" Laura asked as Louise grinned.

"Do I need to answer that question?" Louise asked rhetorically.

"Louise!" Alexander cried out as she groaned and managed to stand up as her vision blurred slightly.

"Come on you two, this is nothing I'll be fine," Louise said.

"Fine? You're anything, but fine," Laura said as the Deloitte sisters giggled.

"Well how about we bag ourselves a heroine sis?" Hansel asked.

"I think we will," Gretel agreed as the two of them then dashed forward towards the trio as Louise turned and fired her rifle, the shockwave sending pains down her back as she groaned.

"This is bad we have to retreat now," Alexander said as the Deloitte sisters jumped up.

"You're dead!" they both shouted as a hail of knives rained down on them, but never touched anyone as they were all shot out of the sky with great accuracy. They turned to see a black-armoured soldier with a raven's mask holding two handguns one of which was trained on the Deloitte sisters.

"Now I think it's time that you two run along right now," the masked man said.

"You're the Black Raven right? Master Jack said that you're a master mercenary. Leader of the Black Ravens?" Gretel said.

"Correct and I'm assuming that he told you all about me so you know what to expect of me, think you can take me on?" as the Deloitte sisters looked at each other before nodding.

"OK then we'll go now, it'll be a pain otherwise," Hansel said nodding as the two of them then retreated as the masked man sighed.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Louise got hurt, she needs a medic," Laura said as Louise staggered forward as Alexander supported her. After a year and a half of fighting she knew when she was at her limits as she laughed feebly to herself as her vision dimmed to darkness.

"Sorry Alexander...looks like I'm going to burden you again," she whispered.

"You can never burden me, I'm kind of used to it actually," Alexander said, "just don't die okay?"

"Haha...I'm Louise Valliere...I can't die yet," Louise replied before she fell into unconsciousness. It would be days before she woke up again and as usual it was Alicia and Alexander who were at her side again as she laughed to herself softly, those two always seemed to be the one here whenever she woke up though with Alexander he would probably never leave her until she woke up.

"You have to stop doing this Louise," Alicia said, "you practically have your own bed reserved for you," Alicia said.

"Well I am the Heroine of Barton, I should be out there saving people's lives," Louise said.

"Thank goodness that the knives didn't really injure you much, they were more or less used to disable someone, I didn't think the Deloitte sisters were expecting you to block them all with your body," Alicia said.

"Well...yeah I guess so. How long am I stuck here for this time?"

"About a couple more days, it's not as serious as the other wounds that you've suffered though you still have to take a good rest. Thank goodness Colonel Cutler has given the squad some time to rest owing to what happened in Riang."

"Speaking of Riang Laura's part of the squad now," Alexander stated surprising Louise.

"R-really? She signed up?"

"Yep she insisted though she became part of squad 13 and refused to be in any other squads," as Louise chuckled.

"That woman...oh well I hope she makes some friends," Louise said.

"She and Suzie don't get along well though," Alicia stated.

"Huh? Why? Suzie is the most friendliest girl you could ever meet," Louise said surprised that Suzie would have trouble with Laura of all people.

"That's because she thinks that Laura's trying to take you for herself, you know how she is," as Louise sighed.

"That girl...oh well can't be helped, don't worry I think it'll be good for her to have some sort of competition with another person," she said. The next couple of days went by pretty quickly, there were a lot of tests done to make sure that Louise was able to function properly. Since there was the chance that the knives might have done a lot more damage then they anticipated, but they were quite glad to report that there were no injuries to her back; along the way Dr Marina also checked Louise's eye and made sure they were in good working order. By the time she exited the hospital the weather had turned to the winter season and it was already snowing. For Louise this was the first time that she had seen snow before and she absolutely enjoyed it as Alexander took her around the place to see the winter decorations that the capital had which was very beautiful and pretty as well. "There isn't any snow in Helkeginia so this is something really special...I would have loved to see snow back home," Louise said as she wrapped her scarf around herself to keep the warmth in.

"Want to go to a cafe and have something warm to drink?" Alexander asked as Louise nodded. The streets of the capital were busy with people going in and out, even with the scarf and winter clothing Louise could still feel the chill right down to her bone as she shivered. She wondered how those that didn't have home could ever survive though at the same time she had noticed that there weren't any poverty...at least in the capital.

"It's rare to have someone homeless or without a job here in the capital," Alexander said when she raised this issue, "the President has created an initiative where those without work can find some sort of work through various centres. It's quite useful and everyone was glad something like that happened, of course in the outskirt villages you never get bored because there's always someone wanting you to do something. And since it's a tight-knit community no one goes cold during the winter seasons either."

"You know your world is starting to sound a lot better then mine," Louise said as she knew that while the nobles might be able to keep warm during the cold season, which didn't compare to what she was feeling now, it was hard for the commoners. Louise wondered if things would change in Helkeginia in time...would the commoners be able to not suffer as much as they were now? Or would things remain the same? Louise promised herself that if she ever managed to return home she would have a long chat with Henrietta about it.

"Planning on staying here then?" Alexander joked as Louise chuckled with him. On the way to the cafe Louise noticed someone sitting against the wall shivering, that struck her as strange since Alexander said that it was rare to see a homeless person in the capital. That along with the fact that the person's hair looked awfully familiar to her made her intrigued as she turned and approached the person, "Where are you going Louise?"

Louise continued to walk towards the person as the face became clearer and clearer as she then gasped when she saw who it was, "S-Suzie?" she exclaimed as the girl snapped up and looked at Louise. A mess was the one thing that could describe her condition as her usually clean hair was dirtied and matted, her face was dirty as well and she could see puffy red eyes on her usually procelain-white face, her clothes were ragged and it looked as though she hadn't eaten in a couple of days. "W-what happened?"

"L-Louise..." Suzie said as the pink-haired girl took off her scarf and put it on the girl as she seemed to be so vulnerable and fragile, Louise had never seen such a defeated look on Suzie's face before. It broke her heart to see her like this as she pulled her into a hug, Suzie instantly burst into crying as she sobbed into Louise's clothes as she comforted the girl.

"Good god...Suzie what happened to you? I thought you went home while we're on leave?" Alexander said shocked at the state that Suzie was in right now.

"L-Louise...I-I don't know what t-t-to do now..." Suzie stammered, "I-I don't have a home anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Louise asked as Alexander gaped before blinking, "Do you know what she's talking about?"

"She was probably disowned," Alexander said as Louise reeled in surprise. She knew what disownment meant as it was something that happened from time to time among the nobility circles; Louise herself had never knew anyone that was disowned from the family, but she had heard stories about what happened and it was never pretty. "We should take her into the barracks, she can get some food there," as Louise nodded as she helped Suzie up as they three of them went to the barracks where Suzie began telling her short, tragic tale.

"It was a couple of days after the squad got time off, you were still unconscious and I didn't want to tell you," Suzie narrated as she sipped on some soup, "I then got called back home by my brother. I didn't know what to expect, I knew my brother wasn't happy with me because of how I acted during the battle...it was a bit of chaos you know? Anyways I returned home and my father immediately called me up, my brother was there as well along with mother. He told me that Andrew had told him what happened and if it was true, I couldn't lie in front of everyone so I nodded, h-he then...he then told me..." as tears fell from Suzie's eyes as Louise looked at her.

"He told you that you were disowned," Louise finished as Suzie nodded, "oh Suzie..." she whispered as she hugged the girl. "What about your mother? Couldn't she say something?"

"She couldn't say anything, she doesn't make the decisions. She tried and pleaded with my father to reverse the decision, but his mind was made up...he stripped me of my surname and cast me out of the house without a second thought."

"What a cold and heartless man," Louise said in anger, "how could a parent ever do that to their own child?" even in the worse of times her mother had never threatened, spoken of, or in any other way mentioned disownment. It was like betraying your own child when you do that, only the oldest of families still use that method of exile and it was always looked upon with heavy disdain among the commoners and lesser nobles.

"It's quite surprising," Alexander said, "I thought no one still kept up that tradition anymore...I've heard of a couple of stories where that has occured, but only for major scandals or crimes."

"H-he said that I-I was a coward and th-that I shamed the family," Suzie said, "he...he wished I was never born."

"Then he's an idiot!" Louise exclaimed angrily, "He's an idiot who can't see the good side of you. I've known you for almost a year now Suzie, I know what you're like and you're anything but a coward. Even when you were afraid you continued to fight on and prove yourself to your family, if they can't see that then it's their own fault."

"T-thank you Louise...but the fact remains that I'm a disowned noble," Suzie said wiping away her tears.

"W-what will happen to you now? A-after the war that is..."

"Well I can't return home, my father made that very clear, and no one in the family can help me either under threat of banishment. Most likely I'll either find work as a maid or some sort of other jobs...or starve to death," as Louise bopped her on the head hard for that as she moaned in pain.

"Don't joke...I never want to hear you say that," Louise said sternly, "fine then in that case I'm going to adopt you."

"Eh?" Suzie asked a little bit confused.

"You said that you don't have a surname right? You have no family? Well you're wrong. Suzie when I lost my eye and woke up in that hospital I was lost, a complete mess, I didn't know whether I should continue to fight or give up altogether. But then you came, you came into that room and told me that you were going to continue fighting despite the fact you hate fighting, that you weren't going to let fear take you and control you. It was at that moment that I knew that I could be stronger, I could be better then I was then, you inspired me to continue fighting Suzie and I've been grateful each day to you since. You've also encouraged me each day and continue to inspire to become better than I was before, I owe everything to you Suzie."

"L-Louise..."

"I don't care what people will think about this, I've never cared what people think, you and Alexander are among the closest friends I have in the militia. The others are my friends as well but you two...you two are the most special friends in my heart," as Alexander blushed and chuckled nervously while Suzie looked completely shocked. "That's why...that's why I'm going to adopt you. You have a family now Suzie, you have me, you can take the Valliere name and be my adopted sister."

"I-I can't do that...I'm just-" Suzie began.

"Doesn't matter what happens, I'll take care of you as much as you've taken care of me. I promsie you Suzie that I'll protect you no matter what...okay little sis?" as Suzie teared up as she then went and hugged Louise hard.

"I-I don't know what to say Louise...no amount of gratitude could ever express it fully. Y-you would do this for me...I'm speechless," Suzie said crying.

"It's alright Suzie...everything is going to be alright," Louise said comforting the girl.

"That was really sweet of you Louise...I never expected you to do that," Alexander said.

"Didn't I tell you? Both of you are special in my heart, for you two I'll do anything," Louise said.

"So...does that make me your adopted brother?" Alexander asked as Louise chuckled.

"Maybe~" she teased.

"You're so mean," Alexander said though he was smiling as Suzie was informally adopted as Louise's younger sister making her Suzie de Valliere. Louise made another promise, adding it to a long list of internal promises, that if she ever found a way to return back home that she would formally make Suzie her adopted sister.


	20. Chapter 19: A Shocking Mission

**Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero characters, just my OCs**

* * *

"Eh! You adopted Suzie as your sister?" Alicia exclaimed when squad 13 heard what happened to Suzie and what Louise had told her. "Seriously?"

"Yes I did," Louise said sipping her tea, "Suzie is special to me and it was the least I could do to her."

"That's amazing," Alicia said clapping her hand, "I'm quite impressed. I see you in a new light now."

"What did you see me before as?"

"Just another average soldier, but now you're like my idol."

"Don't let Suzie hear you say that or she'll get jealous."

"Still jokes aside I really am impressed," Claudia said, "Suzie's suffered a lot and it's nice to hear that she has someone who will take care of her now. She's a really sweet girl."

"Of course, I'll make sure that nothing happens to her," Louise said. Louise and Suzie had spent the last few days getting to know each other and spending time talking about each other. Because Suzie was now Louise's adopted sister naturally she would know the truth about Louise's origin and she had been shocked to learn that her adopted sister was actually from another world where magic existed, of course she also knew about Louise's trial and tribulations back home and the discrimination she suffered by the students of the academy. She had comforted Louise when she heard that making Louise quite happy and she told her that she was fine and had accepted that she wasn't able to use magic properly. Of course Suzie promised to keep her secret and would never tell anyone as Louise nodded though she was starting to wonder how long it would be before her origin came to light...hopefully it wouldn't.

"So have you done it formally yet? Have your family given her their blessings?" Elise asked.

"No not yet, I haven't been able to contact my family," Louise said, hard to when they're in two seperate worlds, "but I don't think there will be any problem."

"That's wonderful!" Elise said, "I wish I could be your sister as well."

"Haha I think having five daughters will be a little bit too much for my mother," Louise chuckled.

"Oh you have sisters?"

"Yep, two older sisters. One's really supporting me while the other is...well she acts like an older sister. But I care for them both."

"That must be nice to have siblings."

"It has its good and bad days."

"PFC Valliere," a messenger came in, "Colonel Cutler is requesting you in her office immediately."

"She is? Alright thank you," Louise said wondering what Amanda wanted with her since she had not talked to Amanda since what happened with Eleanor. Going into her office she knocked and entered as Amanda was behind a desk finishing a paper work as she saluted to her, "Private First Class Louise Valliere reporting in."

"Come in Louise," Amanda said as Louise approached Amanda, "I've heard what happened with Suzie, is it true that you've adopted her?"

"That is correct," Louise replied.

"I'm quite glad, I know Andrew for a long time and I would never imagine that he would actually convince his father to disown his own sister. It makes me a little sick and I could never do it to my own sister...for that I thank you for helping Suzie out. As a result of this I will update the unit roster to reflect this and Suzie's surname will be changed with yours."

"It was my pleasure Colonel and thank you."

"Also I want to talk about Laura York, as you know she insisted on joining the militia, I want your opinion on the woman."

"She's a good woman Colonel, she might have her faults and she blindly followed Jack. But she knows what she did and wants to repent and I'm willing to give her a chance."

"She has an obssession with Jack and is always looking for information about him, do you think this is acceptable?"

"I...I wouldn't know ma'am."

"Neither do I, I allowed her to join because I have a feeling that you had something to do with that, however I must ask that you keep an eye out on her."

"Of course ma'am I'll make sure she stays true to the mission and she doesn't waver from it."

"I'm counting on you. In addition I heard that you faced the Deloitte sisters again, in conjunction with that incident and dealing with it as well as your excellent leadership skill during the final battle I'm hereby promoting you to the rank of Corporal."

"W-what?" Louise asked surprised that she was being promoted, that was certainly what she was not expecting when she came into the office. It was quite surreal as she blinked for a moment before dumbly nodding, "I...I don't know what to say."

"You deserve it," Amanda said with a smile, "we need more people like you. People who is willing to go beyond the call of duty and do some amazing things. A lot of people vouched for you including Laura and Mason, trust me when I say that you'll do wonderful as a Corporal."

"T-thank you ma'am I'll do my utmost best," Louise said saluting her with a smile on her face.

"Good to hear, you're dismissed Corporal," as Amanda saluted back as Louise couldn't get rid of the smile on her face.

"You got promoted to Corporal?" Suzie asked, "Congratulations sis!" as she hugged her.

"Haha thanks Suzie I really appreciate it," Louise said.

"You really do deserve it," Alexander said, "I can't think of a better person to lead a squad then you."

"I was quite surprised when Colonel Cutler told me," Louise admitted.

"Does that means Lieutenant Mason's getting promoted as well? I heard that he's going to get promoted because of his initiative in the mercenaries," Suzie said.

"I don't know, Colonel Cutler didn't mention anything like that when she was talking to me. Though doesn't that mean that he won't be our squad commander?" Louise replied.

"Not really he can stay as our squad commander or he can be the regimental commander. It's up to him really," Alexander said.

"I hope he stays on as our squad commander," Louise said, "I wouldn't want to have anyone else commanding us."

"Same here," Suzie said, "but I don't care who the squad commander is as long as Louise is in the squad," as said pink haired girl and Alexander laughed.

Louise then saw Laura talking to a couple of people, she looked more lively and better then before, she even looked good in the uniform. Louise told Suzie she needed to do something as her adopted sister ran off to be somewhere else before she approached Laura, "I see that you're doing quite well settling in," Louise remarked.

"Oh hello Louise, I heard the news you definitely deserve the promotion," Laura said.

"So you decided to join the milita after all? Last time you said you were unsure."

"I decided to follow my own heart and to chase after Jack, I'm sure there will be many people who don't trust me or don't think I will be focused on the task. Even I myself am not sure if I am capable of being a soldier, however…can I…"

"Can you ask me to take care of you and make sure your heart remains firm and true? Definitely, that's what I'm here for. In all honesty I'm glad you're here Laura, we definitely need someone like you around here."

"Thank you Louise, I am in your debt forever."

A month quickly went by as squad 13 went on more missions as the war against the Confederacy was in their favour as more towns and areas were liberated. There was the general atmosphere everywhere that the war would end and that they would successfully drive out the Confederacy forces. Louise for one was glad that the war was going to be over, it meant that no more deaths would occur and that she would be able to survive this war along with everyone else. Even if she had not yet found a way home it didn't matter to Louise...she was actually considering staying on in the military, it seemed right for her to continue serving Belfast. She hadn't talked to Alexander yet about what he was going to do though Suzie said she didn't care what she do since she was following Louise's and will go wherever she go. Perhaps she should give this more thought? It was one bright afternoon as the squad was chatting in their barracks before Amanda came in as everyone stood to attention, "At ease everyone," she said before she went to Mason and talked to him before the two of them then went to a private room.

"Wonder why she's here?" Laura said, "I thought officers rarely come to the barracks."

"Must be something big," Alicia said, "maybe we're going to go on a big mission?"

"No way really? It would make sense if that happened," Robert said.

"We'll just have to wait and find out," David said as Mason and Amanda came out as Mason did not have a good look on his face.

"Alright squad come up we have a new mission, but it's not going to be a pretty one," as everyone was now nervous about what the new mission was. "We've received intelligence that one of our own squad has done several shady businesses and we believe that they may have become corrupt."

"What! No way!" Robert exclaimed as everyone was in complete shock. It was unthinkable that in a time of war like this that a squad would do something like this, although the opportunities were everywhere the risk of being found out and disgraced usually meant that no one took that risk. "How sure are they?"

"We have informants as well as other sources that confirm this," Mason said.

"Then what's our mission? Isn't this a job for the military police?" Claudia asked.

"We're there to replace the squad since they're defending a strategic location, we'll go in there and simply defend the area. Meanwhile the military police will conduct their investigations on-site so as to allow a smoother investigation," Mason explained.

There were some grumblings from the squad members but they agreed that they were the best suited for the job, if something did happen then they would be able to respond immediately, "What are the charges laid against them?" Laura asked as she had the air of a police officer once again as Louise slightly smiled, once a police officer always a police officer.

"It's quite grim. These charges are pretty heavy and the punishments are no joke, the crimes include bribery, corruption, exortion from the civilians, drug trafficking and torture of POWs," as Suzie paled at the last bit as Laura was gaping in complete shock.

"How come it took this long for the military to find out about this?" Laura asked.

"It was hard for our informants to report back because there was tight security around the place, they claimed it was to protect the civilians inside the area, but it was clear that they didn't want information of what they were doing to be leaking out," Amanda said. "Therefore we will take swift and immediate actions and those responsible for these crimes will be held accountable you can count on that."

"When we do we move out?" Daniel asked.

"In 24 hours, be ready to move out by this time tomorrow. I don't need to say that this is a tense time for the military and we'll need to prove to them and the public that we are not like them and we will remain professional at all times."

"Sir!" the squad chorused as they were dismissed as Amanda and Mason called Louise over as they went into another room.

"Corporal Valliere there's another reason that we actually are utilising squad 13 for this situation," Amanda said.

"Colonel?" Louise questioned.

"The squad that has been implicated in this situation is well known to you and this squad, I will not hide that this is a trying time and that I need your full cooperation from this. Can you remain professional if you know who it is?"

"Whoever it is I will remain professional, I am a Corporal and as such I will not waver from my objectives," Louise replied.

"I hope so..." Amanda said, "the squad implicated in this and is currently held accountable is..."

"Squad 4!" Alexander exclaimed when everyone heard from Louise what had transpired in the room, "You're kidding?"

"No," Louise replied, "that's why the Colonel and Captain asked me to come with them." Mason had been promoted to Captain for his efforts in Riang though he volunteered to stay with squad 13 and remain to be their squad commander though he still had to attend regimental meetings and other such duties, he complained that it was a pain and he preferred to be a Lieutenant but Luna wasn't having any of it and she always made sure that he did his duties.

"B-b-but that's the squad your academy...peers are from," Suzie said since although Tabitha could be counted as Louise's friend, Kirche and Guiche was another matter.

"They know that hence they asked me to make sure that nothing happens between me and them; Kriche and Guiche might be idiotic flirts, but I can never see them doing something like this...though it had been months since I last saw them. They could have changed..." Louise said not wanting to think that the peers she knew had changed into corrupted people.

"Can you do this Louise?" Claudia asked, "I mean this is no easy thing, you might not see them but they could still be sent to jail if the military police are convinced they're responsible for these crimes."

"I can't promise you that I'll be 100% neutral in this, but I will try my best to remain out of their way and I will not help them if they did do those crimes. Not only because I am a Corporal, but also because I do not want them to use me for their own gains," Louise replied sternly.

"Only time will tell..." Adrian muttered to himself though several heard him as Alexander hoped that Louise would be able to survive the emotional whirlwind that is going to come from this. Sometimes he wondered if Fate had something against Louise for always doing this to her...it wasn't fair, she was a kind girl and shouldn't be subjected to these kinds of things; it was bad enough that she had already lost an eye in this war, but added to her more recent injuries...he feared that she would be physically and emotionally traumatised by the end of the war.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the location, a small border town called Eleanos where it was a simple quiet town with not a lot of things going on around the place. Perfect for to live in as the people are friendly however with it being a border town it made a perfect target for the Confederacy hence why squad 2 was stationed there to protect it. "Seems like everything is normal...no sign of the people being nervous that we're here," Laura said.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Alicia asked with a bored tone.

"It is, it means that it might not be as bad as we originally thought," Laura said, "usually they would be terrified to see us. So perhaps it shouldn't be a huge mess to deal with."

"Well let's hope for everyone's sake that this won't turn out to be a big deal after all," Louise said and it wasn't that much of a big deal. Apparently there was slight exaggeration when Amanda said that all of squad 2 members were implicated in the crimes, only a handful of the members were charged with it and the others were held in their barracks until further notice. Louise had been quite pleased to hear that as there was a chance that the three Helkeginia mages might not be involved in this and she was sincerely hoping that was the case.

That was quickly dashed when Tabitha and Guiche were running towards them as Louise wondered where Kirche was, wouldn't she be usually here to mock her as usual? Or was she doing something else at the moment, "Valliere thank Brimir you're here," Guiche said in a panicky voice, "I didn't know what to do!"

"What's wrong?" Louise asked, "You look like a hare caught by a hunter."

"It's Kirche! Kirche is in big trouble!" as Louise's eyes widened.

"What happened? Don't tell me she's involved in this?" Louise asked, "What did that Germanian idiot do this time?"

"S-she got caught! She got caught carrying contraband," Guiche said as Louise felt the need to slam her head up against the wall.

"What in Brimir's name was she even _doing_ with contraband in the first place?"

"I don't know, she said that she was running an errand for Lieutenant Potter our squad commander, and that she would be back before dinner. The next thing I know we were all rounded up and told that Kirche along with others had been caught doing illegal activities. Please Valliere you gotta help her, she's not involved in this."

"You know I can't Gramont, they'll have me court-martialled if I try to help Zerbst in any way."

"So you're going to let her sit there? Come on Valliere this isn't the time for jokes."

"I'm not joking! Look if she's not involved in this then the evidence will speak for itself and she'll be let free otherwise..."

"I see...I thought you were better than this, that you would want to show us you're different. But all you care about is your own skin," as Guiche turned away as Louise gaped in complete shock and anger.

"How-" Louise began before Mason held her back.

"It's not worth it Louise, just let him go," he said as Louise looked away so as to not show him her face as she glanced at Tabitha who was pleading with her through her eyes before followed Guiche back. She also wanted Kirche to be freed, but she wasn't much of a talker so she must have relied on Guiche to talk to Louise.

"Yes sir," Louise said softly before going to squad 13's barracks where Alexander and Suzie were waiting for her, "you guys didn't need to wait up for me."

"How could we not? Weren't those two your academy peers?" Suzie asked.

"Yes...Guiche, the blonde one, asked for my help. And...and I couldn't say yes..." Louise said.

"Maybe it was for the best...I mean...it wouldn't look good if you helped Kirche out using your promotion and status."

"I know...that's why I refused. I didn't want to be seen as the kind of person who abuse their position of power."

"No one would have said you would...except perhaps for a few jealous people," Alexander said with a soft smile as a tear dropped from her face, "what's wrong?"

"Am...am I a terrible person?" Louise said.

"Why would you say that?"

"When Guiche was begging me to help him...I couldn't help but...but feel _satisfied_, a satisfaction deep inside of me. I thought 'finally...finally Zerbst and Gramont need my help, _my help_ and that they're in no position to refuse it' I just...I just felt so satisfied that they were in such a helpless state that they needed my help. I'm such a terrible person, my peer is inside a prison cell for something she may or may not did, and I couldn't stop thinking at how satisfied I felt in her having there. What kind of person am I?" Louise tearfully said as she hated herself, she was utterly disgusted that she would think like that, what kind of person was she turning into?

"Oh sis it's okay," Suzie said hugging Louise, "it's not your fault. You're still you, it's natural I guess when those two had mocked you your entire life that you feel some sort of resentment over them. Even I...even I felt a bit of anger towards my brother when he kicked me out, but it's just a natural part of the course."

"Suzie's right," Alexander added, "you're not a terrible person. It's just a lingering feeling that you're feeling right now, it doesn't mean that you're going to abandon Kirche right?" as Louise shook her head, "You'll get over it pretty soon, you're still Louise Valliere the Heroine of Barton."

"Thanks you two..." Louise said hugging them both, "I wouldn't know what to do with you guys."

A couple of weeks had passed since they had arrived in the place and Louise had not been able to see Kirche at all as she was kept in a prison-like building and no one except the investigators were allowed in. This only made Louise more restless as she wanted to hear from Kirche's own mouth what had happened to her, she couldn't believe that Kirche would do something like this, she must have been tricked as Guiche said. However she could not jump to conclusions without some reasonable evidences and from what people are whispering the evidences are quite damning to say the least. Finally her time came when she was sent to deliver food for the prisoners, squad 13 had been in charge of the welfare of the prisoners and that included feeding them as well. She was glad that she got chosen for this because it would allow her to talk to Kirche, carrying the trolley of foods she went into the building and was cleared to go by the guards, a couple members of squad 13 that Louise rarely talk to, before passing the food through a gap in their prison.

Kirche's cell was right at the very end so that allowed Louise ample time to give everyone their food before getting to her, she was shocked at her appearance. The Germanian's usually flame-like hair was dirty and dull instead of shiny and brilliant, her body was quite gaunt and Louise could see scars on her hands. Her expression was one of depression and despair as Louise wondered just what had Kirche suffered while in the militia, was the war finally taking its toll on her? Kirche looked up and scoffed when she saw who it was standing in front of her, "I thought you would come here eventually...took your time did you?" she said.

"It's a little hard to meet you considering the circumstances," Louise replied.

"Come to gloat have you? Finally the roles are reversed and I'm in a worse off position then you," Kirche said mirroring what Louise thought a couple of weeks ago as she fought down the satisfaction of seeing her rival in this state.

"You know me better then that Zerbst. You know that I hate to gloat against other people. Even at the worse of times."

"Sure...you were always the most _humble_ student in the academy. Nothing could get by your ice-cold persona did it Zero?"

"Stop it Zerbst...we're equals now more or-"

"Equals? Hah! Don't make me laugh. I heard about you...promoted to Corporal I heard...never thought you would actually flourish in a place like this. Unlike me...look at me...I'm a mess..."

"What happened Zerbst? How did you end up this way? Is is true that you were smuggling drugs outside of the city?"

"Hell no!" Kirche yelled as she was in front of Louise in a flash, "You gotta believe me Valliere, I was set up. You know I would never stoop as low as dealing with drugs, I hate the stuff!"

"War can change people, it can make them into something that they thought they would never become," Louise said softly.

"Come on Valliere think! Would I really do something like this?" Kirche asked.

"Then why was it that the police found you with a bag full of pills and tablets?"

"Markson, my squad commander, told me that the bag was full of documents that needed to be delivered to a messenger. He asked me to make sure it got safely delivered, how the hell was I supposed to know that it was full of drugs?"

"That's not what he said."

"Of course not, told the police officers that he gave no such orders. Of course he got busted for corruption a couple of days later...serves him right. But don't you see Valliere? He set me up, he let me take the fall, I'm innocent in all this."

"As much as I want to believe you and let you go, you know that I can't do anything about it. I have to let justice takes its course."

"Justice? Are you crazy? They're more likely to just throw me in prison until the end of the war. Can't you do something with your status as the Heroine of Barton?"

"You can't expect me to throw my weight around just because I'm a heroine, that's selfish of me and no one will ever trust me anymore."

"So you're going to let me rot here?"

"You think it's easy for me to know that you're here?"

"Hell yeah! Don't think I don't know what I did to you back in the academy, this is payback isn't it?"

"How selfish and petty do you think I am?"

"As selfish and petty as any other noble in Hel-"

"Ssh! Do you want them to know that we're mages?" Louise hissed as Kirche shut her mouth as she withdrew herself from Louise as she sat at the corner of the prison cell rocking back and forth.

"I want to go home Louise...I don't like this place," Kirche said, "I hate the war, the fighting, the blood, the deaths...I hate everything about this world."

"That's the difference between us..." Louise said, "for me...I never want to go back home...it's just too painful for me right now."

"You think you can survive in this world?"

"I already am," Louise said as she looked down before taking the trollery away, "I hope that you get out of here soon Zerbst...I really do," as she then walked away leaving Kirche sobbing to lament her fate.


	21. Chapter 20: Border Skirmish

**Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero characters, just my OCs**

* * *

"What's up Louise? You've been putting that face on for a couple of days now," Laura said as Louise was looking out the window of the building as Louise turned to look at her.

"Just thinking that's all..." Louise replied.

"About your friend? The red haired girl?" Laura asked as Lousie nodded, "There's not much you can do about it. The evidence against her is pretty solid, of course she could be telling the truth and that Markson did set her up but it's her word against his. And even if he is under investigation for corruption it still doesn't help that she was found with the drugs in the bag."

"So what's going to happen to her then?"

"Most likely she'll be court martialled and then sent to prison."

"Huh...no way Guiche's going to let it go, or Tabitha for that matter."

"As I said there's not much you can do about it."

"I know...it's just...I feel like I should help her; even if she was my rival back in the academy I still have to help her."

"I know...it hurts to see your friend like this, but you can't jeopardize yourself for her. It may sound selfish, but it's the best advice anyone can give you."

"Thanks...I know that," as Laura smiled and nodded.

"Anytime...I owe you that much at least Valliere and a whole lot more," she replied before walking away. Louise sighed to herself wondering if Kirche was destined to spend the rest of her life behind a prison bar for a crime she may have not committed. It wasn't something that she would wish on Kirche, not even in the worst moments of her life when Kirche's bullying became unbearable, she would never wish for Kirche to become like this...a broken woman just wanting to go home. Deciding that she couldn't stay and wallow in an endless loop of wonderment she decided to go out and patrol the city, it always calmed her down and let her think much more clearly.

She didn't take anyone with her because she did the best of her thinking when she was alone, without anyone distracting her train of thoughts, naturally she also sneaked away from everyone else so that neither Alexander or Suzie could follow her. The air was pristine clear and she took a deep breath savouring the smell as she continued to walk around the town trying to clear her mind. She knew that there wasn't anything that she would be able to do and it was all up to the military police and the investigators to find out what happened, hopefully they'll find out that Kirche really had nothing to do with the whole mess and let her go. But yet deep in her mind she couldn't help but wonder if there was anything that she could do to help Kirche out. Shaking her head she knew that there wasn't anything or else Alexander or Suzie would have told her, she would just have to believe in Kirche and hope for the best.

Sighing she went to her an ice cream shop and bought one before eating it by herself, she needed something sweet to get her mind off Kirche and to think about something else, such as trying to make sure that she gets out of this thing alive. Although there had been no attacks on the city there had been numerous sightings of Confederacy troops going across the border, no doubt to continue attacking Belfast, she was surprised that they would continue to attack knowing that the Belfast military had the advantage with several key cities being retaken. Why were they so desperate to take over Belfast? She sighed as she also hated the war, much like Kirche did, she hated how to had to continue fighting and she hated that there were people dying everyday because of this war. She might be considering a career in the military, but it didn't mean that she liked war. "Hey there what are you doing?" Claudia asked surprising Louise as she giggled.

"Stop doing that Claudia," Louise said with a frown.

"But it's so fun~" Claudia said.

"You wouldn't think so if you were the one getting caught off guard all the time."

"Then it just means that you need to be better at sensing your surrounding," as Claudia sat herself next to her, "so what are you doing all alone out here? Usually either Alexander or Suzie would be stuck on you like glue."

"I wanted some time alone to myself...to think and contemplate," Louise replied.

"Big words from a small person."

"Shut up."

"Seriously though...you really need to stop thinking all the time, even Mason's seeing that you've been distracted lately."

"I know...but without anything to do I can't stop thinking about it."

"Careful or else Mason will send you on patrol duty."

"I rather be on patrol duty then sitting around here doing nothing."

"Well I'm sure that time will come soon enough...but was that all you're really thinking?"

"Among other things..."

"So I gathered...do you think the war's going to end soon?"

"I hope so, I'm getting tired of fighting all the time."

"Same...I can't wait to go back to school."

"Oh so you're a student?"

"No I'm a teacher."

"EH! You're a teacher?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You don't look like one, you sure don't act like one."

"Haha! Is that so?"

"So does that mean your students got conscripted as well?"

"Yeah...I hope all of them are alright, I hate to lose even one of them."

"I can't imagine..."

"How about you? What are you going to do if the war ends?"

"I don't know...I was thinking of maybe continuing a career in the military," as Claudia looked at her in complete shock.

"What? Seriously? Why?"

"Well...I...I just feel right here...you know at home...I know it sounds strange but I feel like I would be doing the most good by staying and protecting Belfast."

"Wow...I never seen someone that voluntarily want to have a career in the military, most officers were nobles whose family had been in the military for generations so they don't have a choice. But if you do become an officer...well I'll be happy that a commoner was able to become an officer," as Louise chuckled nervously. Of course no one except Suzie and Alexander knew that she was in fact a noble, the third daughter of the Valliere family, she wondered how her mother would react to the fact that her daughter was serving in the military. Would she be proud? Or would she be too worried to allow Louise to fight on the frontlines?

"Thanks Claudia I'll do my best," Louise said throwing the remains of her ice cream in the bin, "I suppose I should go back to the barracks and see if Mason wants me to do anything."

"Yep, I'll just be here enjoying the sun," Claudia replied.

"Lucky you," Louise remarked before she parted ways with Claudia and then began making her way back to the barracks, she thought long and hard about what she had to do next. Perhaps it would be better to be on patrol rather then lose herself thinking about Kirche's situation. It would be better for everyone and she wouldn't worry anyone either, with that in mind she was about to open the door to the barracks when it opened and slammed her backwards as a frantic Alexander came out.

"Oh there you are Louise I was just about to get you," Alexander said as Louise glared at him.

"Ever heard of checking before you open the door?" she asked holding her nose.

"Sorry, sorry. But we have big problems! A contingency of Confederacy troops is coming this way!"

"What! In broad daylight?"

"Exactly! That's why Mason wants us to investigate and see what they're up to."

"Alright I'm ready."

"Here's your rifle," as Louise took it before taking a vehicle that would take them to where they needed to be, "what's the plan then?"

"Everyone else is going to take defensive positions around the city, we've already beginning to take the civilians out to a safe zone, Mason's calling for reinforcements as well."

"What about squad 4? Are they going to help us?"

"Protocol says no, but Mason is calling them on."

"Good...because we need them."

"He's still refusing to let the prisoners go though..."

"That's alright we'll make do with what we have," Louise said as the truck dropped them off at a discreet location before peeling back towards the city. They would have to move fast because the Confederacy was going down on them faster then they expected, they needed to relay back what they saw to Mason so that he could mount a proper defence. Running into the trees they took advantage of the cover that it would provide them as they ran through the forest until they were able to see the Confederacy forces bearing down on them. Preparing the radio Louise relayed back what Alexander said as he began listing off the forces that they were to be expecting and where they were headed, it didn't sound good with at least five tanks and 50 infantry troops heading their way.

Even with two squads they would have a tough time fighting off the enemy forces and that's if they didn't have any other surprises. With their mission completed the two of them began to make their way back to the city, they couldn't risk using a truck since it would be visible to the enemy so they would have to make it on foot, it was a pain but the reason was quite reasonable not to mention that they would be able to spot anything else if they happened to run across them.

"Strange that the Confederacy would attack the town, why couldn't they have just go past it and leave us alone?" Alexander asked.

"Maybe they thought that it would be better to take this town, it is a border town and it would be much better to take this one so that they have a place to fall back to," Louise remarked.

"Maybe...I really wish that they stop hassling us and just start working on the other fronts," Alexander said.

"Then we be bored," Louise replied with a laugh.

"True that, but at least we wouldn't have bullets flying towards it."

The two of them continued to walk towards the city as they kept an eye out for anything suspicious as it seemed to be a straightforward attack, something the Confederacy is well known for because of their belief that a quick battle meant crushing everyone in their path with overwhelming firepower. Something that had cost them in various battles against the more tactically-minded Belfast military. Both of them were hoping that this time they would be able to repel the Confederacy troops as usual, they didn't want another town to be subjugated like Riang was. Finally after what seemed to be hours they arrived at the town as they then saw to their horror that most of the Belfast militia were already fighting.

"They couldn't have breached the walls this quickly could they?" Louise exclaimed.

"No that's not possible!" Alexander agreed. The two of them then went inside the town where sure enough there were Confederacy soldiers inside the town as their squad was fighting them, it was clear that they were ambushed as several of the members were wounded as Louise rushed to Alicia.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Markson is what happened," Alicia said, "bastard betrayed us!"

"Damn it!" Louise exclaimed, "Wait...what about Kirche then?"

"I don't know, we're busy fighting on two fronts now. Mason wants you to take several soldiers and take back the plaza, be careful because there are some Confederacy troops there hunkering down. But if you take them quick enough then you shouldn't have any problem with any of that."

Louise nodded as she grabbed Alexander along with a few other soldiers and coincidentally she also managed to grab Guiche and Tabitha along with her. Naturally Guiche was begging Louise to go save Kirche, but with her location deep in enemy territory she couldn't risk getting everyone killed just to save Kirche, "It's not that far from the prison, we can easily pierce through it!" Guiche argued.

"And get ripped to pieces by the machine gun fire? I don't think so Gramont, I'm sticking to the mission," Louise retorted.

"Damn it Kirche could be captured by the enemy and Founder knows what's being done to her, don't you have any sense of compassion at all?"

"My mission, my goal, is to make sure you all get out of this alive. I'm a Corporal now and I need to stick to what I've been told to do, the plaza is being overrun by enemies and right now that's how we're going to save this town. If we lose that then everything is going to be lost, so which one is more important? Kirche or the town?"

"Kirche is more important of course! Without her we're going to be lost!"

"Damn it Guiche I don't have time to argue with you!"

"Damn yourself Valliere I'm going to save her with or without you," as Guiche then left to go and rescue Kirche as Tabitha looked at Louise.

"Need to make sure both of them survive," she said before following Louise who was close to exploding and would have if it was not for Alexander.

"Deep breaths Louise, don't lose your judgement here, those two are going to be fine. Concentrate on the mission first before focusing on them," he said as she followed his advice and took a deep breath as the cloud in her head cleared up and she was able to concentrate.

"Alright I want half of you go to the sides and try to flank the enemy, the rest of us will draw their attention, when I give the signal throw grenades at their positions. Hopefully that will get them out of there and we can retake the plaza without too much trouble," she ordered as half of them went to the side and through a building as the rest followed Louise. The plaza wasn't that heavily defended yet owing to the fact that they just got there but there was a heavy concentration of machine gun fire forcing them to duck to cover, "Sniper take out those gunners, they'll tear apart our flankers if they catch them."

A sniper popped up and fired his rifle as the first gunner fell, before he took out another gunner, however his head was then blown away as Louise cursed herself, "Damn it we got a sniper," she said as they all ducked down.

"We can't advance with the sniper pinning us down," Alexander said, "we'll need to flank him."

"I know," Louise said as she turned on her radio, "hey do any of you guys got a shot at the sniper? It's the window of the house with the red roof."

"Affirmative Corporal, however we need some distraction so we can draw out the sniper, right now we can't get a bead on him at all," the soldier reported.

"Alright looks like I'm going to need to be bait then," Louise said.

"Why you?" Alexander asked.

"I'm not risking you guys, I'm the fastest remember? I can run around rings with those guys," Louise said.

"No way there's a sniper if you've forgotten, they're trained to take out scouts like us," Alexander said.

"I'll be fine Alexander, if I don't do anything we're going to be sitting here the entire day."

"At least two so the sniper won't know who to hit."

"Can't risk that, I'm going now."

"Please..."

"Alexander don't worry, I won't die," Louise said before she leaned in and kissed Alexander's cheek freezing the boy with shock as she smiled, "I'll be back soon. Alright I'm going to bait the Confederacies, make sure you take out that sniper! Understood?"

"Yes Corporal good luck," as Louise took a deep breath and moved out of her cover and ran to the first one, she ran as fast as she could as she could feel the sniper's scope on her as bullets flew passed her. Slamming into the ruin of a truck she called in as the soldiers reported that they nearly got the sniper, but couldn't take the shot, she then ran to the next cover as the sniper's bullet was getting closer.

"Come on...I can't do this the whole day," Louise said.

"We're working on it," the soldier said as Louise sighed trying to get her breath, there was the chance that Alexander might have the crazy idea of trying to save her and get himself shot; she couldn't bear to see him wounded or worst, it would completely shatter her apart or at the very least send her to guilt trip lane. She moved on to the previous cover as the sniper's bullet could almost be felt as she gritted her teeth, finally there was another bang as she dove to the cover, "Got him!" the soldier reported as Louise sighed in relief.

"Good job now make sure that you flank them now! We're going to do this together," Louise said as she gestured to the other soldiers to fall in as Alexander, now snapping out of his shock, was looking quite upset, "See told you that I would be able to do it," she said with a grin.

"T-that's not funny! You could have been shot! What would I have done then?" Alexander said trying to sound angry but failing as she giggled.

"You know that I'll always live, I'm Louise Valliere after all," Louise said and before Alexander could argue any further, "alright guys grenades on my mark," as she took out a grenade as the others did the same...after having the flanking unit distracting the Confederacy she then stood up, "mark!" as she pulled the pin and threw the grenade unseating all of the Confederacy soldiers out of their cover. They then charged in as the remaining Confederacy soldiers retreated from their position as they had lost any cover that they could use to fight back as the plaza was retaken from enemy hands.

However they would not be able to take any rest, even if they had unseated any of the enemies there were still the chance that enemy reinforcement would come back to take it back, Louise called in some backup as Alicia and several others came in to reinforce them, "What's the situation?"

"Better than before," Alicia said, "we managed to push them back a little, with you taking the plaza they won't be able to flank us while we're able to flank them."

"That is if we can still maintain this position, where's the backup from the military?" Louise asked.

"It'll take at least a day before they arrive," Alicia replied.

"Oh wonderful," Louise replied sarcastically.

"Where's that blonde haired guy and blue haired girl? Weren't they with you?"

"Went off to rescue Kirche."

"What! Alone?"

"Couldn't convince them, and they were just going to keep on harassing me until they got Kirche in their hands," Louise said, "I just hope they didn't do anything crazy..."

"The definition for trying to rescue a friend behind enemy line is crazy kiddo, go."

"Huh?"

"Go and rescue them, help them out, we'll be fine here. I doubt the Confederacy is going to attack this position anytime soon."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah! Go!" as Louise smiled and nodded.

"Be careful Alicia, I'm counting on you!" she said before running off.

"Shouldn't you go with her too?" Alicia asked Alexander as he shrugged.

"I think it'll be great for her to bond with the others," he said, "besides I'm sure she'll be fine on her own."

"Ah damn it!" Guiche said as he ducked as a barrage of machine gun fire rippled above him, "We're not getting anywhere at this rate!"

Tabitha was forced to move cover as the rubble she was using was turned to dust as she ran to the next one and tried to snipe the gunners, however they were concentrating on her as Guiche wasn't able to draw their fire due to his cowardice, "Guiche...draw their fire," she said.

"Are you crazy? They'll tear me apart!" Guiche said as Tabitha sighed, maybe they had been better off following Louise, at least with her she would be able to have another partner helping her out. By now they were unable to move backwards or forwards as there was no cover to cover their retreat and they were nothing more than sitting ducks as their cover was whittling to nothing. Then a loud explosion echoed behind the gunners as they were killed by a grenade, peeking over to see who it was she was surprised to find Louise there shooting at them as Tabitha didn't waste any time as she began sniping.

"Valliere? What she doing here?" Guiche asked dumbly.

"Be quiet and start shooting," Tabitha said as Guiche whimpered but did as he was told as he began shooting back at the enemy as they began to retreat as Louise kept throwing grenades to throw them off.

When all of them had sufficiently retreated the three of them met up, "When did you get here?" Guiche asked.

"Just now, finished with the plaza already," Louise said tightening her eyepatch, it was already starting to itch but she couldn't afford to go and get it fixed, it'll take too long she just needed to hold out till then. "Come on let's go and rescue Kirche, we'll look in the prison first there's still a chance that she's still there."

"And if she's not?" Guiche asked, "Where do we look then?"

"I...I don't know..." Louise said, she really didn't know where else to look save for the enemy ranks, was there a chance that Markson asked Kirche to join them? She would refuse outright since she still had a demeanor of a noblewoman, but with the war who knows if Kirche had changed, would she take the easy way out of the war and join the other side? She dreaded having to face Kirche and dreaded even more with having to kill her if that happened.

"You don't know?" Guiche exclaimed, "How could you not know?"

"Hey it's not easy trying to figure out what happened alright!"

"But if she got captured by the enemy-"

"Then she's a POW and we'll work from that angle, but for now we have to go with our best lead," as the trio continued to work their way to the prison, it wasn't that much of a fight since they had driven the Confederacy back and with the plaza gone they would be stretched thin fighting two fronts with the other part of the Belfast military engaging them on the main streets. The prison was empty when they got there, there was no sign of anyone, the guards were also dead as Louise hoped that Kirche was still in there, "Kirche! Kirche are you here?" Louise shouted.

"Here," a small voice said as Louise followed the voice until she arrived in some sort of storage room as there were barrels all around the place as she found Kirche hiding away in the corner, "oh thank Brimir it's you Valliere, I thought it was one of Markson's men," Kirche said hugging the pink-haired girl.

"So he really did betray us?" Louise asked.

"Yeah, bastard been working with the Confederacy for some time now, he was going to give the town to them in exchange for money and protection. Tried to rope me in as well, but I got my pride as a Zerbst!"

"That's the only saving grace for you it seems," Louise said as Kirche bopped her on the head, "ouch that hurt!"

"A-anyways what's going on? Has the Confederacy taken over the town?"

"We wouldn't be here if that happened, no we're fighting back but it'll take at least a day for reinforcements to arrive."

"A day? We'll be overrun by then!"

"No choice, it's do or die, now come on I'm taking you back."

"A-alright," Kirche said as she met up with Guiche and Tabitha with the latter looking quite glad to see her while Tabitha merely smiled.

"Thanks Valliere...I owe you," Kirche said.

"Yeah your welcome," Louise said as a booming echo alerted her to the fact that there was still a battle going on, "now come on we still have a fight to win."


	22. Chapter 21: Border Town Battle

**Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero characters, just my OCs**

* * *

"Damn it they're really persistent aren't they?" Alicia said as she threw a grenade as it exploded, since Louise left the Confederacy redoubled their efforts to take back the plaza. It only reinforced just how desperate they need the plaza and how much value it had as a strategic location, now if only they didn't lose it everything would be fine but with how things were going they were going to lose it pretty soon.

"I just hope Louise is alright," Alexander said.

"I'm sure she's fine," Alicia said, "that girl's got infinite lives the way she keeps coming up after each hit. She's practically immortal."

"Haha I'm sure she'll appreciate that comment," Alexander said with a small chuckle.

A sudden explosion hit the Confederacy on their side as they were blown away before Louise along with Tabitha, Kirche and Guiche were flanking them as they fired at anyone that wasn't an ally. The appearance of those four put the Confederacy soldiers off guard as they proceeded to fight back against Louise's team, confident that they would be able to smash them into pieces since they were only a small group. However they underestimated how strong Louise's determination was as they didn't falter in the face of fire and bullets, they continued to persevere in the face of relentless opposition. Louise pulled a grenade and threw it as it exploded and destroyed a section of the Confederacy soldiers sending them flying from the force of the blast.

"There they are!" Alicia said, "With them we'll win this!" she said confidently as the Belfast soldiers redoubled their efforts to push back the Confederacy soldiers surging towards them despite the heavy entrenched position that the enemy had. It was a flurry of madness and chaos as Louise barely had time to think anything, she just reacted with the precision that her training and experience gave her. She fired shots after shots at the Confederacy, them being unable to match the Belfast's determination began to be pushed back. Even with their superior numbers they once again underestimated the Belfast military as soon they were on the run while their enemy celebrated. "Nice timing Louise, wasn't sure if we could beat them back without you."

"I'm sure you would have been fine," Louise said with a smile while she made sure that everyone was fine.

"However this isn't the end, we're going to have to hold this line until reinforcements arrive. They'll surely attack again. They're desperate to get this area before our backup arrives," Claudia said.

"Or they're going to stall them," Mason said, "I just got back from our reinforcements. They hit a Confederacy force that's stalling them, so until they can get rid of them they're not going to arrive any time soon."

"Damn...well I guess we'll just have to try our best then," Claudia said, "however right now we should concentrate on recuperating. We've got a lot of wounded thanks to the surprise attack, we'll need to make sure that they can fight."

"I'll make them the top priority on a long list of what needs to be done. Good work everyone you managed to hold yourself pretty well, take a good break and get yourself ready."

"Finally I can relax a bit," Louise said stretching her arms, "my arm feels like its going to fall off."

"Still haven't built up those muscles huh? You're falling behind me Louise," Claudia said.

"Yeah, yeah you try maintaining those muscles," Louise said, "I'm going to go and splash some water on my face. See you guys soon," as she then began to walk to the nearest fountain as she took a drink from it. It felt refreshing and good since it had been a while since she drank, it was important she kept on hydrating herself or else she was going to be tired and thirsty, which was bad in the middle of a battle.

She then felt someone approaching as she turned to see Kirche, she looked better now that she was cleaned up as her hair shone again and it seemed she had done the same and cleaned her face, "Hey Valliere..." Kirche began.

"Hello Zerbst," Louise said, "are you alright now?"

"Y-yes," Kirche said, "I got myself fixed up and everything."

"That's good to hear, I'm sure you'll be happy to be with your squad again," Louise said while she dried her face before putting her eyepatch on again.

"Look Valliere I...I want to apologize to you."

"For?"

"Everything, from the moment we met until now, I realised now that I was being unfair to you."

"What brought this about?"

"You. While I was in the prison I thought about our home a lot, it's been awhile since we've seen it and I can't help but wonder what's going on over there right now."

"I try not to think about it...it just distracts me from the task at hand."

"Some would say that was quite mean of you to say."

"And I argue that I'm alive because I don't think too much about it."

"Is it also because of people like me? Does the thought of home bring back painful memories for you?"

"...you wouldn't know what painful memories are..."

"No...I wouldn't, but I do know now what it's like to be at the bottom of the food chain so to speak. Look what I'm trying to tell you is...I'm sorry for everything I've done to you. All the taunts, the pranks, the harsh remarks I'm sorry for all of them. I hope you can forgive me because I've realised that in this world we need each other...without each other we'll be dead before we can ever return home."

"That is if we can return home."

"Stop being so pessimistic."

"I like to think of myself as a realist, but okay...I forgive you."

"O-oh...thanks...I guess...uhm...I'm gonna go now," Kirche said not sure what else to say as she quickly turned and walked away as Louise saw her walk away before smiling to herself.

"Hmm...I guess it's good to have friends," Louise said to herself before walking back to their base. There was still the atmosphere of urgency and panic as many of the soldiers defending the town were wounded, they would need every able body to defend the line until reinforcements could arrive, however they wondered how long it would take for reinforcements to arrive with the Confederacy stalling them. Hopefully not too long.

"Hey Louise you alright now?" Claudia asked, "You were gone for an awfully long time."

"Yeah sorry about that, ran into someone," Louise said, "so what's the plan now?"

"Now we do nothing, but let the Confederacy come to us," Claudia said, "we could go for a full scale assault, but it would most likely not work. Markson would definitely tell them about our plans and tactics and that puts us at a disadvantage, which is a shame because we could do it if we had the means to do it."

"Better than sitting here and waiting for reinforcements huh? Does squad 4 have any plans?"

"No, they're more shocked at his betrayal than anything else, none of them seem to have the slightest clue of why he did that."

"Money is usually the biggest motivator," Laura said, "seen too many good men go bad because of it."

"Could be...wasn't he charged with bribery?"

"Yeah...that's why I think he got turned with money."

"Great...well that makes it better."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you Louise," Claudia said smiling. Louise ignored her and looked out to where the Confederacy were and tried to think up of something that would allow them to somehow at least stall them so that they don't attack them anytime soon.

"There is...a way," Kirche said interrupting their thoughts.

"What do you mean? I thought you guys explored this entire place top to bottom," Claudia said, "there shouldn't be a place where he wouldn't know."

"Well...it's not exactly a place where anyone would expect a military force to come through...even I'm not sure if this plan will work or if it's just completely crazy."

"And what plan is that?" Louise asked in an even tone.

"The sewers," as the others looked at her like she was crazy, "it's accessible from where we are and there are plenty of entrances where we can easily hide what we are doing. Also we can move anywhere we want in the city and strike from anywhere, it's a perfect place to set up ambushes and if we know where we're going we can easily escape from the Confederacy even if they chase us down the sewers."

"That is true, but wouldn't we get lost as well?" Alexander asked.

"Not if you have an experienced person down with you," Kirche said.

"And that would be all of squad 4? That would mean Markson would know too."

"Not really, the sewers were kind of a game for squad 4, he never really knew what we were doing, but if you really want to have someone who knows the ins and outs of the sewers I can lead you to a guy," Kirche said.

"What do you guys think?" Claudia asked.

"Well we have two options right now," Louise said holding out two fingers, "one we simply wait here for the Confederacy to come and we'll make our stand here. Or two we attack them when they're not expecting them and somehow stall them, the second options is a little bit risky because we'll be right behind enemy lines and even if we do succeed in that it would only be a matter of time before they come knocking on us anyways."

"I prefer the first option, we would be much better off if we shore up our defences and get ready for them rather than attacking them and risking losing people," Alicia said.

"But no matter what we do we'll be attacked either way, at the very least with the sewer plan we'll be attacking them first and getting the drop on them," Claudia argued.

"But so soon? What if that plan just brings them to us sooner? We're nowhere near ready."

"Well we can't just sit here and wait for them to come!"

"Alright that's enough you two," Louise said stepping in, "both of you have valid points. However the main objective for us is not to eliminate the enemy, but to stall them. Therefore the second plan is much more effective in achieving that objective, we can at the very least whittle down their offensive capabilities and probably destroy some logistical stuff as well."

"Sounds like a plan then," Claudia said with a grin.

"Fine..." Alicia said, "but I'm going to stick around here and help out."

"She means that she doesn't want to end up smelling like the sewer," Claudia said laughing as Alicia pouted and walked away.

"Claudia..." Louise said as Claudia stopped laughing.

"Sorry...I'm just a little nervous that's all," Claudia said now looking embarrassed for her outburst.

"I know...still you should probably apologize," Louise said, "I'm sure Alicia has her reasons for not wanting to join us."

"Yeah..." Claudia said before sheepishly walking towards Alicia.

"So Kirche, where's this guy of yours?" Louise asked as Kirche led them to squad 2's camp where they then saw a guy with black hair and a hawk-like nose as he saw Kirche and smiled.

"Kirche darling you're here~" he said pouncing on Kirche, before being promptly sidekicked by said woman.

"Damn it Alex! How many times have I told you not to do that?" Kirche angrily said.

"Ah~ such beautiful pain~" Alex said with a look of bliss on his face.

_Oh Founder...we've got ourselves another weirdo_ Louise thought to herself.

"Anyways I need your help Alex," Kirche said, "we need to get down the sewers and attack the Confederacy. Since you know the sewers a lot do you think you can be our guide?"

"Anything for you Kirche," Alex said, "I'll even jump into a fire if you want."

"I'm tempted," Kirche growled, "well we're moving out soon so get ready!"

"Yes Kirche," Alex said before walking away.

"That him?" Louise asked.

"Yeah, Alex Linton, guy's a damn masochist. He's worse than Guiche, and he only flirts with me for some reason. Creepy...but fun to play with," Kirche said.

"Well nobody could ever resist you right?"

"Well...I do have that kind of charm~"

"Hmm...so...found anyone you fancy in this world?"

"Haha! Well...no not really, haven't found the right person yet. How about you? You and that boy Alexander seems to be close."

"Well...he is my best friend, he's been with me since the beginning, so perhaps we are close. But not as close as a...couple."

"Hmm...is that so?"

"I'm not really!"

"If you say so," Kirche said giggling as Louise blushed red, Alexander was very nice to her but...she just wasn't ready for a relationship yet. Or was she just trying to avoid that subject? She didn't know as she gathered everyone who wanted to go on the attack and went down the sewer. The smell of the sewer was worst than she anticipated as she nearly gagged at the smell, she didn't think it would smell this bad and god forbid if she fell into the water.

"Well now I know what a sewer smells like," Claudia said covering her nose, "I think I know why Alicia refused to come here."

"The path to the Confederacy side shouldn't take that long, however there are a lot of winding roads and corridors so try to keep up. If you get lost then it's best if you just go up regardless of where you'll end up," Alex said.

"We'll try to keep that in mind," Louise said while seeing a rat run by making Kirche squeaked which in turn made Louise smile. After a series of winding roads and near falls they finally reached a ladder that would lead them close to the enemy base.

"So what's the plan? Just go and take out as many as we can before jumping back down?" Claudia asked.

"Too simple, it won't do much good against them," Louise said thinking about it, "we should aim to take out logistical stuff like weapons, food and all that. I'm sure they have a storage building for all of that somewhere around."

"So a sabotage huh? Good thing I brought Alice with me then," Claudia said as Alice waved at them.

"Brought lots of good things here Lou," Alice said calling Louise by her nickname, "got your grenades, extra ammos, and most of all lots of explosives."

"Well just make sure you don't blow yourself up in the process," Louise said, "that would make me sad."

"I'll try not to," Alice said grinning.

"That still leaves on how exactly we're going to find that building," Kirche said.

"That shouldn't be too hard, just look for a building that has lots of people bringing stuff in and out," Alex said.

"That is too simple," Kirche said smacking him on the head as Alex moan lightly, "but it's a good plan nonetheless so full speed ahead I say."

"Alright let's be careful though," Louise said making her way up and opening the cover of the hole carefully, after checking that the coast was clear she got out of the sewer and smelled fresh air again before gesturing for the others to come up. After all of them were up they then began looking for the storage area while dodging patrols and lookouts, not easy when there were six people in Louise's group.

"Good thing we got all the civilians out of there, who knows what they would have done to them if we didn't," Claudia said.

"Yeah," Louise replied before moving to the next cover, "found it!" she said seeing a huge warehouse where people were coming in and out of it.

"Doesn't look that well guarded, must be confident that no one is going to get that far into their line," Alexander said.

"Well we'll make them regret that," Claudia said, "let's carefully move up and make sure none of them see us. If they see us then we'll abandon the mission no matter what, we can't risk getting captured here."

"Roger that," Kirche said. The six of them continued to move towards the warehouse as Louise was on point making sure that there was no one around before moving onto the next and before long they were close to the warehouse, now that Louise wasn't looking out all the time she noticed that the warehouse was big enough to store everything that an army needs. Most likely once they blow it sky high the Confederacy would be very hurt by their losses.

"Come on we're almost there," Louise said leading the six man squad to the entrance, funnily enough she never considered the current group as 'her' team, after all they didn't clear this with Mason and she wasn't even sure if she was qualified to lead a group despite what people say. She just thought of it as simply a team with a common goal, Alice helped them get in by picking the lock on the door though she wouldn't say where she learned to do that before they went in. Inside were crates of weapons, ammos, grenades and everything imaginable as Louise was correct in her assumption. "Good, looks like we hit the motherlode," she said looking around the place, "Alice go and set the explosives and try to do it quickly."

"If you want quick we could just toss several grenades now," Alice said before quickly setting up the explosives, "how long you want it timed?"

"Long enough to be well away from the blast," Louise replied picking up a Confederacy handgun and a grenade labelled 'smoke grenade' before pocketing it.

"Why you need to take that of all weapons?" Kirche asked.

"Don't know," Louise replied shrugging her shoulders, "I just thought I should take a souvenir."

"Well then in that case hope you all don't mind if I take one or two as well," Claudia said taking a submachine gun, "cool. I've heard that these new SMGs are lighter and more portable than the machine guns we carry with us, looks like it'll be useful for me."

"I think engineers such as Alice would benefit more from that," Louise said as Claudia grinned.

"Well she can help herself," she replied.

"No fair! I won't have time to look around once the charge is set," Alice whined.

"Calm down Alice I got you a couple of SMGs," Louise said taking a couple knowing how much Alice loved to dismantle weapons.

"You're the best Louise!" Alice cried out.

"What is this though? I've never seen a gun like it," Alex said taking out a weapon that resembled that of a rifle, though there were no cartridges or anything that indicated where the bullet should go.

"Maybe it's some sort of new prototype weapon? I've heard that the Confederacy are experimenting with new weapons these days," Claudia said.

"Done," Alice said, "we have to move fast though before the whole thing blows up," as Louise nodded.

"Alright let's-" she said before a barrage of machine gun fire interrupted her as a force of Confederacy soldiers came bursting in, "uh oh out, out, out!" she yelled fleeing from the enemy while hoping that the bomb blast wouldn't kill them all.

"How did they find us?" Claudia asked.

"Must've been a patrol, hurry to the sewers," Alex said while bullets flew around them as more soldiers piled in to stop them.

"We're not going to get out of here at this rate Louise, how long before that thing explodes?" Claudia asked.

"Soon," Alice said, "damn it I should've put in a longer fuse."

"Let's see if this lives up to its label," Louise said taking out the smoke grenade as she pulled the pin and threw it as a cloud of smoke then hissed out obscuring them from the enemy soldiers, "now move!" she yelled as under the cover of the smoke they moved to the nearest sewer and jumped in just as the warehouse exploded spectacularly as Louise could see the flames shooting above them.

"Wow that must be one huge explosion," Alice remarked.

"And we should hurry back to our side before the Confederacy come knocking since they will clearly be unhappy about the whole thing," Kirche said before beginning to walk back towards safety.

"Still...I do wonder what this weapon is used for," Alex said inspecting the strange weapon.

"Whatever it is I'm glad that we got to see what it does first before it's used against us," Kirche commented.

"Yeah..." Louise agreed.


	23. Chapter 22: Last Line of Defence

**Disclaimer: I don't know own any Familiar of Zero characters, just my OC**

* * *

Although the team got back safely it wasn't without some sort of lecture from Mason, who had been worried about them since they were reported missing, "I understand your enthusiasm to get rid of them Corporal, but you could have at least told me what would have happened if you were captured?" Mason said.

"There was no chance of that, I chose the best after all," Louise replied.

"Still...that's very reckless of you."

"I know, I know it won't happen again."

"So...good job on blowing up the warehouse, that'll dampen their ability to attack us for a while."

"Thank you. Any word from the reinforcements?"

"They're still stuck, they can't risk losing anymore men or it'll just be another disaster."

"So basically it's up to us to make sure that this town stays safe, maybe we can try attacking them now that their main supply building is destroyed?"

"They'll be on the alert now, it's better if we just sit tight and see what they'll do next. We got our defences set up anyways so we'll be ready for them when the time comes."

"Alright if you need me I'll be with the others," Louise said before she moved towards squad 13's area before being hugged by Suzie.

"Oh my god Louise why didn't you tell me where you were going? I was so worried about you," Suzie said holding onto her tightly.

"I'm sorry," Louise said stroking her sister's head, "it was just a spur of the moment kind of thing. I had to get who was available at the moment, and besides it would've been too dangerous for you."

"Same for you," Suzie retorted.

"But at least I knew that you were safe back at the base camp, or else I would've spent the entire time worrying about you."

"I'll try not to worry you then the next time I'm coming."

"I know you will," Louise said hugging her before going towards Alexander who was inspecting the weapons that they garnered from their little mission, "and what are you doing?" she asked.

"Looking at these SMGs, they're quite brilliant you know, they might have a shorter range than the normal machine guns but they're quite portable and versatile. Perfect for quick raids, we should definitely produce them," Alexander said sounding quite impressed with the workmanship shown on the guns.

"Mhm I've heard something similar to that from Alice," Louise said, "perhaps we should have taken more from the warehouse."

"Didn't have time, but don't worry I'm sure we'll be able to raid another warehouse pretty soon."

"Haha don't think so, Mason's not going to like that."

"Since when did you ever agree with anything Mason said?"

"Since I became a Corporal and I have responsibilities."

"Party pooper."

"Shut up," Louise said laughing while pushing Alexander playfully. There was then a loud explosion from squad 4's area as Louise looked at Alexander before the two of them went to investigate and found Alex and Kiche lying on the ground, "You two alright? What happened?"

"Tried the new gun Alex brought with him," Kirche said groaning, "it fired something that knocked the hell out of us."

"You mean this?" Alexander said picking up the strange rifle they took from the warehouse, he then aimed it at a nearby building and pulled the trigger as there was a whirring sound before a bolt of lightning shot out from the barrel and hit the building cracking it in the process.

"Is that lightning?" Louise asked in surprise, "This thing can shoot lightning?"

"Seems so...looks like the Confederacy has been busy experimenting with new weapons," Alexander said inspecting it, "quite a strange, but brilliantly efficient weapon."

"Oi, oi isn't that dangerous for us?" Guiche said, "What if they use it on us? No human can ever survive such a high intensity bolt."

"Which is why we were lucky to take it, at least we know what to look out for, and we can probably reverse-engineer this weapon so we can use it for our own or at least make better defensive measures," Alexander said.

"Still makes you wonder what other weapons that they have in store for us," Kirche said as no one wanted to think about that at all.

"Here you go, be careful with it," Alexander said giving back the rifle to Alex.

"Sure thing," Alex said before he walked away inspecting it.

"He's more likely to shoot himself with that thing then shoot the other person," Kirche said.

"Eh he'll live," Alexander said, "he seems to be the kind of guy who can take a punishment and still go walking."

"Much like me?" Louise said with a small scoff.

"No you're more of a girl that can die, live, and then die again. You're immortal," Alexander said as Louise gave a barking laugh.

"Please don't, the next thing I want is the Confederacy shooting at me more because they think I'm immortal and can't die," she said as Alexander laughed as well. Night quickly came to the town while Louise and Alexander were trying to get some sleep before tomorrow, it didn't come easily because they were all thinking whether or not they would be attacked tomorrow. Even with the warehouse destroyed it did not mean that the Confederacy would not attack them, perhaps they would even attack them tomorrow to get rid of any opposition before their supplies ran out, a desperate attack so to speak.

Louise kept looking at the night sky unable to sleep as she groaned and rolled off her bed and decided to just sit and wait for morning to come, she knew that she needed to sleep but it just wouldn't come to her. "Can't sleep?" Alexander said sitting next to her.

"Yeah, I just can't help but feel nervous. Of course I'm always nervous before a mission or something like this, you?" Louise said.

"Same, I'm nervous about whether or not we'll be able to hold the ground. They still have a few tanks you know."

"I'm sure Daniel and the other anti-tankers can take care of that, we'll just focus on the infantry."

"Hey Louise...uhm...about today, before you went out and nearly got yourself killed by that sniper-"

"You're never going to let that go are you?"

"Never."

"Fine what about it?"

"Why did you kiss me? In fact how did you know that'll freeze me completely?"

"Hehe...that's a secret~"

"Come on Louise, we've known each other for almost a year. I thought we didn't keep secrets from each other."

"Fine...I just knew that it'll freeze you, because I know about _that_."

"That?"

"What you were trying to say to me at the dance," Louise said. It took a while to know what Alexander was trying to say, she wasn't exactly the number one person when it came to love. But after seeing him look at her and spending time with him she finally understood what he was trying to say back then. She didn't say anything because she didn't know how the future would turn out, she didn't know what she wanted to do in the future. It wouldn't be fair of her to tell Alexander that she liked him, yes she liked him very much, and then for her to go back home and left him behind. No...she couldn't do that to Alexander, in fact she wasn't even sure if she felt the same way about him the way he did about her.

"Y-you did?" Alexander asked blushing, "W-why you never told me?"

"Because I didn't want to hurt you...I didn't want to promise you something and then break it. It wouldn't be fair of me, for the person who has always been on my side since I arrived in this world."

"I...when I first saw you I thought you were an angel Louise, you looked so beautiful and mysterious. I thought I was dreaming, then when you told me that you came from another world I knew that...just maybe you were someone sent to protect me," Alexander said with a small shrug.

Louise giggled a bit, "An angel? Really?"

"Well you came down from the sky what was I supposed to think?" Alexander argued, "But...the more I spent time with you...the more I began to fall for you...because even though you suffered a lot in your world. You seemed to be so happy in this world, I don't know maybe I'm a little bit over-analysing things, but...I wanted to be with you no matter what, to see you grow and laugh each day smiling through every danger. I love you Louise Valliere, I want to be with you..." he grabbed her hand as they looked into each others eyes.

"Alexander...I don't know what to say," Louise whispered, "I still don't know what I'm going to do after the war. I keep thinking that I want to stay in the military and have a career, but then how could I forget about home?"

"It's okay," Alexander replied, "whatever you do I'll be here, me and Suzie, both of us will do our best to support you no matter what happens."

"I know, I'm very lucky to have you two without you guys I wouldn't be here," Louise whispered as Alexander leaned forward slowly, Louise wanted to say something anything to break the tension around them, but nothing else could be said before their lips met and for the first time Louise knew what it was like to kiss someone. Perhaps this was what she was brought here to do, to regain hope in herself, some faith in herself, to recover from everything that she suffered back in Helkeginia. Perhaps...it was her destiny to fall in love with Alexander Manos. "That was my first kiss..."

"Was it? How did it feel?" Alexander asked.

"Heavenly," Louise said breathlessly while the two of them smiled at each other, "perhaps I was lucky to meet you Alexander."

"Then I'm more lucky to have been able to meet you and love you," Alexander said as the two of them couldn't have been more happier that night.

The next morning Louise was greeted with a somewhat upset Suzie as she pouted at Louise, "Uhm...morning?" she said not sure why Suzie was in an upset state, she was never upset with anyone before.

"Morning sis...enjoyed last night?" Suzie asked as Louise blushed.

"N-no way...you saw that?" Louise asked while Alicia was snickering while Claudia was smiling knowingly, "you all saw that?"

"Just us three," Claudia said, "it can't be helped. We're the three closest to you two, but man...kissing you in the middle of the night right after confessing? He's very bold."

"I knew it you two were just perfect for each other," Alicia said, "I have very good intuition you know~"

"Oh man...please don't spread this around, I don't want the entire squad to know," Louise begged.

"Don't worry your secret is safe with us, you two deserve some privacy till you're ready," Claudia said patting Suzie's head, "right Suzie?"

"Well..." Suzie said looking away a bit, "if it makes big sister happy then...I guess I'll keep it quiet."

"Don't worry Suzie, I don't love you any less," Louise said hugging her as Suzie smiled a bit, "you're still my favourite little sister."

"I know...I just want you to be happy Louise," Suzie whispered.

"If you two are done over there we need to move out and get ready, looks like the Confederacy are going to go for a showdown," Alicia said.

"Well then let's see who's going to go off as the winner huh?" Claudia said, "I guess it's time we had one of these moments."

"Let's go then," Louise said tightening her scarf and eyepatch. There was a solid line of tanks on both sides as the infantry were either taking cover in the buildings or on makeshift defensive lines, neither side seemed to want to make the first move as Mason was already in the Falcon while relaying orders to squad 13. Louise was with Alexander and Claudia along with others taking care of the left flank while she made sure that her rifle was in working order before a loud series of bangs echoed before white smoke obscured their vision, "Damn it's their smoke grenades!"

"Everyone get ready here they come!" Claudia said as a wave of infantry came out of the smoke and fired on them. It was a scene of pure chaos as both sides tried their best to achieve their objectives with the Confederacy trying to gain some ground while the Belfast were trying to hold their ground, it seemed that the Confederacy became more aggressive since they were throwing grenades down every alleyway in order to flush out any soldiers hiding inside of it.

"Damn it, don't let any of them near us!" Claudia said firing her machine gun at the oncoming wave, "Take out any of their grenadiers!"

"Sniper!" one of the soldier said when soldiers began dropping like flies, "Get down!"

"Ah damn it," Claudia said, "Robert get over there and take them out."

"I would if I had some covering fire," the merchant retorted.

"What do you think we're doing?" Claudia snapped.

"Stop it both of you," Louise said, "Claudia concentrate on the infantry and providing covering fire, use the grenades if you have to, Robert whenever you can fire on the snipers as your top priority."

Robert grumbled but obediently obeyed while Claudia didn't say anything and obeyed her while Louise sighed, she wondered where Luna was and whether she was alright or not. She then saw Tabitha firing her sniper rifle as the two of them exchanged glances and nodded while Kirche was ordering a couple of soldiers and Guiche was nowhere to be seen. "Looks like they're easing up," Alexander said, "there's not too many coming in right now."

"Must be regrouping before attacking us again," Louise said, "good we can have a breather then, I'm nearly out of ammo too."

"Same, where's the engineers? Usually they give out the ammos," Alicia said.

"Coming!" Elise said bounding towards them with bags of ammo as they all stocked up, "I had to run around the entire area giving out ammos to everyone," she said panting.

"Well it'll build you up some muscle kiddo," Claudia said ruffling her hair.

"I gotta run, be careful everyone," Elise said before running off again.

"She's pretty fast," Louise commented.

"Yeah, makes her perfect for ammo runs," Claudia agreed. There was then a loud rumbling noise as Louise peeked out to see that there was a large tank, bigger then a medium sized one, with a decent amount of armour and two large cannons sitting on it.

"Oh no...no this is not good," Louise said as the tank fired, a resounding loud exploision, before taking out an entire building in one shot.

"What the hell is that thing! That thing's a monster!" Robert said.

"All units retreat back, all units retreat! The Confederacy seems to be bringing out a new tank and this one is no pushover," Mason said as the Belfast military began to retreat as the new tank's onslaught destroyed any resistance that was laid before it.

"I'm starting to think that we should do our own weapons experimentations," Alicia growled, "I'm getting really tired of being on the receiving end of their little test trials."

"You can complain to Mason after this and if we survive," Louise said before she got an idea and slowed down before hiding behind some rubble, Alexander saw her and ran up to her.

"What are you doing?" he hissed.

"Is everyone gone?" Louise asked looking around.

"Yes, what are you doing we have to get out of here!" Alexander repeated.

"No use, they'll just hunt us down, no I think it's time to use magic again," Louise said before grabbing Kirche when she was running past, "need you, Guiche and Tabitha's help," she said quickly before the other two arrived.

"What are you doing Valliere?" Guiche asked, "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"No I would've done it a lot quicker and less painful than getting blown to bits by a tank shell," Louise retorted, "I think it's time we used magic."

"What? Are you nuts!" Guiche exclaimed.

"I agree, that's pretty risky," Kirche said while Tabitha nodded.

"It's the only way we can slow them down, look I already used magic a couple months ago, it taxed my body but I think that's because I haven't used magic in a long time. Look Guiche your element is Earth right?" as the blonde haired boy nodded, "Any chance that you would be able to collapse the earth around the tank? I don't know slow it down maybe or pull it into a hole?"

"I can try...I'll need time though to cast the spell," Guiche said.

"Good then the four of us can slow them down as best we can, don't worry Alexander knows about magic and he won't tell anyone. Just let loose with whatever spell you guys know," Louise said.

"I hate to say it, but I agree with Louise on this one," Kirche said, "it's much better than running around trying to escape that monstrosity."

"Agreed..." Tabitha replied.

"Good then let's slow them down," Louise said while Guiche began chanting the spell as Louise drew up her magical reserves once again, feeling the familiar feel of magic, before pointing to a ground exploding it while sending soldiers off their feet and into the air. The Confederacy briefly stopped and tried to fire back before several of them combusted into flame confusing them even more followed by a tornado of flames that incinerated and badly burned anyone unlucky to be in its path.

"What the hell is going on here?" one of the soldier exclaimed, "Is this some sort of new technology we haven't heard about?"

"Damn if I know," another remarked, "just keep moving!" as the soldiers continued on their march while hiding behind the tank. But Louise had a clear line of sight to the soldiers and continued bombarding them with her trademark explosion spell sending them out of hiding and into the open where they were harassed by Kirche's fire, combined with Tabitha's wind it was a complete massacre as wind supported flame and so the two of them worked quite well together.

"This is going better then I thought," Louise said though she began to feel the strain of using her magic too much as she began to stumble a bit.

"You have to rest Louise, you'll tire yourself out again," Alexander said in concern.

"I'll be fine, I can't stop here..." Louise said taking a deep breath and sending another squad of soldiers flying when they got too close to their defensive line. However it was clear that she was pushing her limit as she began to have a nosebleed, a sure sign of over-use of magic.

"Guiche how much longer?" Alexander asked getting concerned with Louise's health.

"Not much longer...just a few more minutes," Guiche said chanting and casting runes in the air.

"I'm nearly out of stamina as well," Kirche said panting a little, "Valliere looks bad though."

"That's why I need that spell now!" Alexander said.

"Just a little more!" Guiche yelled back. Tabitha then summoned a tornado sending a large wave of enemy backwards before falling down, sweat glistening on her skin and soaking through her uniform.

"Tired..." she muttered.

"Guiche!" Kirche yelled.

"Got it!" the earth mage said as he pointed to the tank, "Earth Pillar!" he shouted as the ground rumbled and shook stopping the Confederacy in their tracks as they tried to determine what it was now that was assaulting them. Then the earth cracked before a pillar made of stone shot out of the ground and hit the supertank dead centre sending it flying into the sky from the impact before it crashed hard into the ground, hard enough to make a crater around it. Guiche then fainted from exhaustion lying there panting.

"You're done after one spell?" Alexander asked.

"Hey it wasn't an easy spell...that was...at least triangle-class..." Guiche said panting.

"Not good...we're all too tired to move, how's Valliere?" Kirche asked.

"I'm fine..." Louise muttered though her pale skin said otherwise.

Even with their supertank disabled there was still a lot of infantry to deal with, and with everyone being too tired they weren't able to move at all, "Damn...we should've thought this a little bit more..." Kirche groaned while the Confederacy moved in on them; then suddenly there was the scatter of machine gun fire as the first wave fell down. The reinforcements that they were waiting for finally arrived as they swept through the remaining Confederacy forces, "Finally...I was wondering if they were going to arrive any time soon, looks like they broke through after all," Kirche said.

"Yeah...great..." Guiche huffed, "can we take a rest now?"

"Yeah...sounds good..." Kirche said before falling into unconsciousness from exhaustion followed by Guiche and then Tabitha.

"Sorry Alexander...you're going to have a hard time explaining this..." Louise muttered.

"It's fine, I guess I should be used to it by now, Suzie's going to have your hide you know?" Alexander said smiling at his girlfriend.

"I know...I'll deal with her," Louise muttered.

"I'll be right there beside you when you wake up," Alexander said.

"I know, you always do," she answered before falling into darkness.

Meanwhile back in a Confederacy city there sat a large temple, the temple was dedicated to the God that the Confederacy worshipped, it was full of people praying to their God to defeat the Belfast army and to conquer the world as is their destiny. Inside the inner temple sanctum a robed man approached a throne which was being sat on by a woman with fair skin, long blonde hair and pointed ears dressed in a white ceremonial robe as she held a scepter in her hand. "High Priestess I have come to report news about the border town our army invaded, unfortunately we were not able to gain it and were forced to retreat," the man reported.

"Again? How many times must our army fail before we succeed in our goal?" the High Priestess asked.

"Forgive me, but it seems that even with the Titan-class tank we were unable to take the city. The soldiers reported..." the man replied before hesitating.

"Reported what? Speak up!"

"They reported that they were assaulted by unknown explosions unlike those of a grenade, tank or artillery shell, that tornadoes of flames surrounded and burned them; that the Titan tank was thrown into the air by, even I cannot believe this, a pillar made of stone that appeared out of nowhere."

"What did you say?"

"It is what they reported High Priestess."

"I see, very interesting, have the forces retreat and regroup. It seems that I underestimated him, to think that he would bring them here...from that place..."

"High Priestess? What is this place you speak of? Do you know about these strange technology?"

"No it is no technology that did this...but magic, that damned fool, he must be desperate if he summoned mages from my world. But that is a trivial matter, no matter what he does I shall conquer this world, and when I do I shall return and be master of both this world and Helkeginia! As is my ordained destiny!" the High Priestess announced laughing while she did so.


	24. Chapter 23: Emergency Mission

**Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero characters, just my OC**

* * *

The first thing that Louise noticed when she woke up was that she wasn't in the infirmary again, that was a change of pace but the headache that came with it didn't change making her wince. She opened her eyes and saw that she was in the medic tent, most likely still in the border town, while Alexander was beside her sleeping; she smiled at him before Suzie came in, "Louise! You're awake!" she said going to her side.

"Hey, you alright?" Louise asked.

"I'm fine, but what about you? When the reinforcements came they said that you, Kirche, Guiche and Tabitha were all knocked out. What happened out there? Why didn't you escape with the rest of us?" Suzie asked.

"Well I had to stall them somehow, they were going to steamroll us if we kept on going, so we just...improvised a little bit."

"And how exactly did your improvisation resulted in a stone pillar appearing in the middle of nowhere?"

"Oops...guess that's going to be hard to explain naturally."

"You shouldn't use that a lot Louise...what happened if it failed? What happened if you died? I would have nowhere else to go," Suzie asked tearing up.

"Shh...it's okay Suzie, I won't die that easily," Louise said wiping the tears away, "I won't let you go that easily."

"I know," Suzie said, "but I still worry, I worry so much because you never seem to take me to the dangerous parts..."

"That only shows how much I care for you," Louise said, "if I pushed you then it would only lead to disaster."

"Because I don't like fighting?"

"Yeah."

"I hate that then."

"Don't hate that, that makes you you."

"But-"

"Suzie don't worry about it, I don't use it that often and when I do it's for a good reason."

"Ok...please don't leave me Louise..."

"I won't."

It didn't take more then a day for Louise to recover from her exhaustion, usually it took a couple of days for her to recover from something like this, it must mean that she was starting to improve her conditions. That her stamina must be improving, which was good because that meant that her training did have some sort of effect, however the other mages were still out for the count. Louise came out of her tent and ran into Mason, "Oh hello Mason."

"Hi Louise, feeling better?" he replied.

"Yes sir, I'm ready to go, what's our next mission?"

"Not much, with squad 4 completely dissolved we're trying to sort out who goes where."

"So they're all going to different squads then?"

"No one wants to take command of them, they've been heavily investigated since their officers all betrayed Belfast."

"I see...that must be tough."

"Yeah it is."

"Sir...may I ask something?"

"Of course what is it?"

"If it's possible I would like Kirche Zerbst, Tabitha and Guiche Gramont to join squad 13," making Mason raise his eyebrow.

"You want them in our squad?" he asked in a surprised tone.

"Yes sir, I work well with them, any issues we have has been resolved," Louise said, it would be good to have everyone together, it would be easier if they ever needed to use magic again. She hoped that she would never have to use magic again, but if the war continued and the Confederacy had new weapons then most likely they'll have to use it again.

"I see, well I'll see what I can do," Mason said before walking away while Louise headed back to the others.

"And the heroine returns," Claudia said, "you know I think you should bring me along whenever you're going to do something crazy, it'll prevent me from feeling left out."

"I'll try next time Claudia," Louise replied with a soft smile. "So what do we do now? Are we permanently here?"

"No, I heard another regiment is going to take over, we're going back home again.

"That's good, I can finally take the time to relax."

"I thought you have been relaxing these past few days."

"Oh haha. You know what I mean."

"Oh _that_ kind of relaxation, gotcha."

"You're a prat you know?"

"Don't I know it," Claudia said as the next two days were pretty much chaotic, since the dissolution of squad 4 there were a lot of people that had to be transferred to various squads. It was chaos since that meant they had to figure who to sent to in order to complement the squad they would be sent to, Mason talked to the person in charge and he was able to obtain Kirche, Guiche and Tabitha. They didn't seem to mind going into Louise's squad either since they didn't have any real friends though somehow Alex managed to get snagged along with them much to the despair of Kirche. However once the replacement regiment arrived they were packed up and sent back to the capital where they were all looking forward for a good time to relax after their harrowing ordeal at the border town.

"So Louise, what are you and Alexander going to do once you get to town?" Alicia asked, "Go have dinner, a romantic walk down the street and ending in another romantic kiss?"

"Slow down Miss Actress I'm not there yet," Louise said.

"Come on, you two have practically been glued together for almost a year and a half, you should be way past this by now. But since you're so slow I'm giving you some pointers," Alicia remarked.

"Thanks, but I think I got it covered."

"You better be quick, men don't like to be kept waiting, if you're too slow you just might find Alexander with another woman."

"Haha like that would happen."

"Yeah Alexander's pretty much stuck to her, he hasn't left her side once," Claudia commented.

"Still, all men are impatient creatures and sooner or later he's going to get impatient," Alicia argued.

"I think Alexander's willing to wait as long as it takes," Louise said, he seems to be really in love with her and he understood her predicament. She just hoped that she didn't keep him waiting for too long...hopefully she'll give him an answer by the end of this war.

The convoy then stopped suddenly making Louise lurch and nearly falling off her seat, "What happened? Why are we stopping?" she asked before peeking out of the truck.

"Louise have everyone come out, we got an emergency mission," Mason said from the tank as Louise relayed back the message before the squad assembled, "alright I know all of you were looking forward to some R&R, but we got an emergency mission that command needs us to do. We're moving in to support the 5th regiment in retaking back the Ashton Fields, as you all know the Ashton Fields is the only way leading to what seems to be a factory that the Confederacy had taken to build up their war arsenal, the elimination of that war factory is of utmost importance and to do that we need to take Ashton Fields. The 5th regiment was tasked with that, but they keep hitting dead ends with it, so we've been tasked to support it."

"Great, there goes our R&R," Adrian muttered as Daniel glanced at him quickly shutting him up.

"What's the problem over there?" Daniel asked.

"Apparently they've been hit by artillery, there's a strong line of artillery defences down there and with that remaining there is no way anyone is going to get close to the main Confederacy base," Mason said before the radio burst in as he went to receive it before having a surprised look on his face.

"What is it?" Luna asked.

"It's the Black Ravens, apparently they have a vested interest in the factory as well, they're setting up camp and supporting us," Mason said.

"Isn't he your friend though? Did you ask him to support us?" Louise said.

"No, he's a mercenary, he doesn't like to play sides. I wonder why he would find that place so interesting..." Mason said before shaking his head, "alright let's do it everyone I have faith we'll be able to take out Ashton Fields."

"Roger that, let's roll," Louise said before they got back onto the trucks and made the detour towards the battlefield.

"So much for your romantic dinner huh?" Alicia teased.

"Stop it," Louise said though she couldn't help, but feel disappointed, she did have something special for Alexander and her when they got back to the capital. Just a simple walk, nothing special, she was wanting to talk more to Alexander about their relationship...maybe just clarify it a little bit more. Looks like that she will have to wait until they took back Ashton Fields.

The trip there wasn't notable, everyone was at ease despite the situation, they knew that they would be able to get through this like any other time. But Louise couldn't help, but feel uneasy, anytime they went on a mission she was always uneasy but this one was the worst. She couldn't help, but feel that something bad was going to happen in the Ashton Fields, she hoped none of them died in front of her, she had become friends with all of them and those close to her were like family, to lose one of them was like losing a part of herself. "Louise!" Claudia said loudly making Louise jump, "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, what's up?" Louise replied.

"Nothing it's just that you had such an intense look on your face that I thought you must be thinking about something, don't tell me you're a little bit disappointed that you're not going to have that romantic dinner and walk with Alexander," Claudia teased.

"Stop it, it's not that," Louise said.

"You're worried about us? After all this time? Come on have a little faith."

"I do have faith in all of you, I really do, but I just can't help but feel uneasy about this mission. I don't know what, but something about this mission seems a little off. Maybe I'm just imagining it."

"Louise you're probably overthinking it, it's natural considering we've been doing nothing but fighting all this time. You're probably just a little jittery, it's okay nothing is going to happen to us, we'll all be fine."

"I sure hope so," the convoy arrived at its destination without incident as the squad set up their camp while Mason went to talk with the Black Raven. Louise had almost forgotten about him, he was the one that saved them back in Riang when Louise got injured because of the Deloitt sisters. She was wondering what he would be doing back here, was he hired by the Belfast military? That wouldn't be something they would do, but with the war going on...who knows what the commanders were thinking.

"I can see why they had problems tackling this area," Laura said and Louise agreed. The only path towards the factory was through a small, narrow area that was surrounded by cliffs; no doubt there would be artillery cannons along those entire lines making them the perfect place to bottle any kind of attack and pick out the soldiers with ease. Furthermore it would be difficult to get rid of the artillery line in itself because they were protected by the cliffs and the area was pretty much a sniper galore with the height. "This is going to be a problem for everyone."

"Since when did we ever get the easy missions?" Louise remarked.

"True, but then again with you here perhaps something incredible will happen. Incredible things always seem to happen when you're around," Laura said.

"Well that's me, Corporal Incredible," before she finished unpacking everything and looked out to the cliffside wondering just how exactly they were going to complete this mission. If they tried a full scale attack it'll just end in disaster like it did, the only way they would be able to even have a chance of succeeding would be to eliminate the artillery positions which in itself posed its own set of problems.

"Hey," Kirche called out, "what are you thinking about?"

"How we're going to make this mission a success. Those artillery shells are making it really difficult for us to mount any kind of assault," Louise said.

"Yeah, this must be one of your toughest mission yet."

"You mean our."

"Well probably."

"Have you adjusted to life in squad 13?"

"Well I get the dirty eye now and again, but overall it's been nice. Everyone seems to be a little accepting of me."

"Can't be helped...they'll warm up to you eventually."

"Why did you want us in your squad?"

"Because I can't bear the thought of you guys off in Brimir knows where and being shot at."

"Really?"

"No I just can't stand the thought of you flirting with men all over the place."

"What a rude girl you are."

"Since when have I ever been nice to you?"

"Seriously...thanks...for having us here," before Kirche walked away while Louise laid on the ground and tried not to think about the upcoming battle against the Confederacy defences. Suddenly Alexander's face popped into view surprising her.

"Having a nice nap?" he asked.

"What is it?" Louise asked.

"My sisters here, she's in command of the 5th regiment," surprising Louise since she didn't think that Alexis was the kind of officer that would come down here, she thought that she was a logistical officer and was in charge of moving supplies between point A to point B. "Yeah surprised me too, apparently she's been put in charge of a regiment since the last regimental commander got injured."

"Well let's go meet her then," Louise said since it had been a while since she had met the woman and she was wondering how she was doing at the moment. Alexis was at the commander's desk sorting out the various maps, forms and whatever else that commanders sort out as she beamed when she saw the two of them.

"Alexander, Louise, what a pleasant surprise," Alexis said hugging her brother.

"Hello Alexis, did you finally get out of that office?" Alexander said.

"Yes, someone needed to get this regiment into gear and apparently they thought that I was the person to do it," Alexis said with a sigh, "however it seems that I'm quite in a rut at the moment."

"So we see," Alexander said before Alexis turned to Louise.

"And how have you been Louise? I heard about you quite a lot, you're quite a celebrity in the officers circle," making Louise blush.

"Haha...really? I didn't think that I made that kind of impression..." Louise said.

"Come on...not only Barton, but Riang as well? You've done quite well for a Corporal," Alexis said, "though I am sorry that you had to pay your eye for this kind of fame...does it hurt often?"

"Not anymore...just itches now and again," Louise replied touching her eyepatch.

"Well that's alright I suppose, we seem to have hit a problem haven't we? This factory does need to be destroyed, but we won't be able to take it out with the artilleries in the way."

"I'm sure that you'll think of something Alexis, you were always the smart one," Alexander said making Alexis smile a bit.

"I'm sure I will," Alexis said before Alexander got called over by Alicia as he ran away and Louise moved to follow him, "Louise...may I speak with you for a moment?"

"Sure," Louise said before they moved to a more private location.

"Your heroism and bravery isn't the only thing that has been spreading around the officers circle, I've also heard about what happened at the border town," Louise's heart hammered as she wondered if people had seen magic being used, if everyone knew that she was a magic user then along with Kirche, Guiche and Tabitha they were going to be nothing more than experiments.

"R-really...what kind of things?" Louise asked her heart hammering even faster.

"Don't think I don't know, I know how much Alexander cares for you, he was always loyal to his friends, but his loyalty to you is beyond that."

"H-huh?"

"You know what I mean~ he kissed you didn't he?" before Louise's heart calmed down, so it wasn't about their use of magic, it was about her relationship with Alexander. Her face turned red since she thought that only Claudia, Alicia and Suzie knew about it, "Though of course that's only rumours...nothing confirmed, but is it true?"

"Yes...he kissed me...I-I'm sorry, I don't know if I'm the right-" Louise stammered.

"Nonsense, I think you're perfect for him, he needs someone to keep him in control and you seem to be doing fine with that. I've never seen Alexander more happier than when he is with you. Would you please take care of him Louise? He's such a sweet boy and he seems to be madly in love with you."

"I-I'll try my best...we're still working some...things out."

"I understand, I'm just saying that I'm here to support you if you ever need my help," Alexis said before walking away leaving a completely flabbergasted Louise behind. Just how did she know about what happened at the border town? Shaking her head she walked over to her area where she found Guiche looking at the enemy camp.

"What are you doing Guiche?" Louise asked as he turned towards her.

"N-nothing I-I was just sitting down here," Guiche stammered.

"Easy it was just a question not an exam," Louise said, "I thought you be flirting with the women instead of sitting here. It's quite a refreshing sight to be honest."

"Haha...no the women don't seem to like me around here, they kind of just smack me if I try to flirt with them, Laura's the worst..." Guiche said.

"Laura's a former police officer, I don't think she would appreciate you ogling at her," Louise laughed.

"How are we going to do this Louise?" Guiche asked.

"Take out the factory? I have no clue," Louise admitted, "like everyone is saying it's a perfect defence line, the artillery and snipers make sure that nobody can get close to them."

"So I heard though...I am wondering...where do they get their supplies from?" Guiche remarked.

"What do you mean?" Louise asked.

"Well...that's a factory right? So I suppose they get their ammo and everything from there, but what about food and all those other things? They have to get them from somewhere? I don't' think a factory would have the ability to produce the food and rations right?"

"So like a supply line?"

"Yeah, so...I was thinking...why don't we take that out? Like my old man used to say, take out the supply and leave the soldiers starving before you attack. Not sure if it's applicable in this situation but-"

"You're a genius Gramont."

"But yeah I'm a genius-wait what?" Guiche snapped looking at Louise who was smiling.

"Like I said genius," Louise said grabbing his hand, "come on you just figured out how we might break them."


	25. Chapter 24: Where Is The Entrance?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero characters, just my OCs**

* * *

"Hmm...that is an interesting proposition, taking out their supply line," Alexis remarked, "I never really thought of that since I was concentrating on taking out the artillery. We did suspect that the factory was churning out ammos for the snipers and artilleries, but not for food...after all without food no soldier can remain functional."

"That's what I thought as well, I didn't think anyone thought of that until Private Gramont was talking about the supply line," Louise agreed.

"You seem to have hit an important piece of the puzzle Private," Alexis complemented making Guiche turn red.

"The question though is how they're getting their supplies? We've been watching this road for a long time now and there's nothing to indicate that they're getting their supplies through the road. Are we missing something?" Alexis mused.

"Maybe a secondary road?" Guiche suggested, "A cliffside area like this should have multiple entry points? Did you ever try to encircle them or scout the area?"

"We did, there is nothing though that would indicate an entrance, only rocks and more rocks."

"What about a hidden entrance then?" the Black Raven asked entering the conversation as he looked at Louise and nodded, "Hello been a while."

"You too," Louise said, "thank you for saving me back at Riang."

"My pleasure," the Black Raven replied.

"A hidden entrance?" Alexis remarked.

"Correct, it is possible that they have created a hidden entrance that only they know about, most likely at the rear of the place since you can see any trucks that come from the side, that way even if you do look around you won't be able to find it," the Black Raven explained.

"They did get nervous when we started poking at the back, we thought it was because of a chink in their defences, but the cliffs proved to be unscalable so we gave up on it. Do you know how we're going to find this hidden entrance?" Alexis asked.

"Well...there is one way," the Black Raven said. The next day a contingent of tanks rolled over to the rear of the area trying to stay quiet about their entire movement, Louise herself couldn't believe the plan when she first heard it, it sounded something that wasn't going to work. However the Black Raven seemed confident that the plan would work despite its shortcomings though Louise hoped that those shortcomings wouldn't come to bite them.

"I'm not sure if this would work," Louise voiced to Mason.

"Well it's the only way that we'll be able to do anything in regards to breaking through the barriers, so I guess we'll just have to trust him," Mason replied.

"How well do you know him anyways?" Louise asked.

"Well...he saved me once when I was just a kid, of course I already knew that he was a mercenary, but he was never really someone who was on the evil side. He always fought for honour and justice...a strange fellow really," Mason explained.

"So then...how does he know where to attack?"

"Don't know, but he's a genius when it comes to warfare so I guess we'll just have to trust him." The tanks then lined up against the rear and aimed their cannons at the cliffside before firing in unison, the shells destroying the cliffs. Louise nervously waited for any kind of results, anything that would prove that the plan had been a success, the cliff began to crumble and break apart from the explosions. The Confederacy soldiers gave the cry of alarm when they saw what was happening and sure enough they fell under attack as they tried to take out the tanks first rather then concentrate on the infantry.

"That tells me that we're on the right track," the Black Raven said.

"Or they're just fighting back as per usual," Mason said firing his cannon, Louise covered them by firing on the defenders though her rifle wasn't far enough to actually cause any kind of damage since they were far away and they were taking cover.

"Any progress?" she asked, "I would very much like to see something."

"Patience Corporal, patience," the Black Raven chuckled, "should be anytime now..."

Sure enough the constant barrage from the tanks obliterated the cliffside as it crumbled into nothing revealing a tunnel that had been covered up, there was a great cheer from the Belfast side as they rushed towards the tunnel while the Confederacy turned to cover the exit. "Well what do you know? Your plan actually worked," Mason remarked.

"Well I have Private Gramont to thank for that, without him I wouldn't have made up this plan of mine," the Black Raven said, "now let's go in and take them out!" The Belfast military charged towards the entrance as they finally had a breakthrough with the siege after months of besieging the place and they were looking forward to finally destroying this factory. Louise was a little bit behind since she had to wait up for the squad 7 members that had accompanied her before hurrying forward, the battle had already been underway. The Belfast and Confederacy forces were shooting back at each other and trying everything within their power to achieve their respective objectives; it was sheer chaos as Louise had no idea where to go or where to even start. It seemed that the Confederacy were re-routing all of their forces to defend the hole that the tanks had made though the tanks were quite slow in their arrival due to the fact that the tunnel only allowed one tank at a time to come through.

"Come on follow me," Louise said trying to keep the men alive through this firefight by moving to a much safer area, even though there weren't really any safe areas, she held the line beside a burnt out tank and began to fire on the Confederacy soldiers. She would need to get moving on the next phase of the plan, which was taking out the artillery as fast as possible, once those were eliminated then the frontal assault team can go in and sandwich the factory in a two-pronged assault. However the entire plan hinged on the fact that the artillery needed to be taken as fast as possible, so speed was of the essence.

"Looks like they're trying pretty hard to make sure we don't go any further," Alexander said with Suzie agreeing with him.

"Well that's kind of a given," Louise said, "however we can't afford to stop here we need to keep moving. Alright Kirche I want you to take a squad and distract the artillery crew and their defenders, just make sure to keep your head down and not to do anything rash while I'll lead another team to flank them. Once we eliminated the guards we can move in together and take out the crew before they can alert the enemy what happened."

"Sounds good to me, just make sure not to get killed okay?" Kirche said moving away already.

"You sure that's a sound plan Louise?" Suzie asked.

"No, but it's the best plan we got so let's try our best in accomplishing it," Louise admitted.

"Well with you here I doubt anything can go wrong," Alexander remarked making Louise smile a bit, she saw Kirche's team distracting the soldiers their attention focused solely on the perceived threat. Louise quietly crept up behind them, making sure that there weren't anymore enemies around them for them to be found out, before taking out a grenade. She turned to see Alexander and Suzie do the same.

"On my count," she said, "one two," taking out the pin of the grenade, "three!" before throwing it at the soldiers and took cover. The explosion was loud enough to make Louise nearly jump and she could have sworn she saw something just fly over her, hopefully just some rubble and not human flesh, before jumping over the cover and gesturing for Kirche to move in. The two squads moved as one and shot at anyone attempting to stop them, "Alice! Demo charges on the artillery cannons pronto," Louise ordered as the engineer moved in and began placing the charges.

"Keep me safe," Alice said, "Alex could you help me out here."

"Sure thing Miss Alice," Alex said moving in to help his fellow engineer. The rest of the team began to create a defensive circle around the two engineers, Confederacy soldiers already noticing what they were doing and moving in to intercept them.

"Incoming," Kirche said firing her machine gun at the nearest soldier, causing him to fall off the steps and into oblivion, before she had to duck from the retaliating soldiers.

"Make sure that Alice and Alex aren't harmed, we need them," Louise said taking cover, "how long is this going to take?"

"Give or take a few minutes," Alice said seemingly uncaring about the bullets flying past her.

"Define a 'few minutes'," Guiche said, which was largely ignored.

"Just do your best everyone," Louise said taking out another grenade and throwing it sending a group of soldiers flying. The soldiers were beginning to take cover as well and were suppressing Louise's team with the sole purpose of taking out at least one of the engineers, something that Louise was not going to allow to happen on her watch, "on your right Alexander!" she exclaimed.

Alexander turned and shot a flanking soldier who was trying to get a shot in, "Thanks," he said before turning his attention to the next soldier.

"They're trying to flank us," Kirche said, "we can't keep this up forever Louise. We're fighting on three fronts and not enough men to cover all of them properly," as she turned from the centre to the left, then right, then centre again. She was right, even Louise was having a hard time trying to figure out who to shoot next.

"Alice...anytime now before we gotta abort," Louise said warningly as Alice made a satisfied sound.

"Done!" she exclaimed before crying out in pain.

"Alice!" Alex said as blood blossomed from her shoulder.

"Can you stand up?" Louise asked.

"Y-yeah I'm fine-ouch," Alice said grimacing from the pain.

"Thank goodness that you just finished everything, alright let's retreat and blow this thing," Louise said as the team quickly made their getaway Louise taking the detonator and destroying the entire artillery battery line. Immediately from the corner of her eye she could see the frontal assault team beginning their march as they began to obliterate the factory's front guard, soon enough they would have the factory in their grasp and hopefully the Confederacy wouldn't have any ammo or supplies to fight with.

"Everyone retreat to the factory, he's almost done," one of the Confederacy officers called out as the Confederacy began to retreat from the main base area and went into the factory before making a last stand around it.

"They must really want to defend that factory if they're this determined," Mason said over the radio.

"There must be something good inside then," Alice said, yelping when Claudia tightened the makeshift bandage she was making.

"Yeah..." Louise said having a bad feeling about this, she could feel it a cold chill up her spine, something in there was scaring her and she didn't know what it was. Just when the Confederacy were about to fall and the factory was about to be taken a large blast kept the Belfast military away from the factory, it was a wall of flame and Louise recognised it from the countless times she had seen it in Helkeginia as did the other mages.

"No...that's impossible..." Kirche whispered looking at Louise in fear.

"Isn't that the Flame Wall technique? That's at least Triangle-level," Guiche hissed.

"Mage..." Tabitha remarked.

"It's ready now...the ritual has been completed and it is now ready to be unleashed on the Belfast military," red robed man said, "come forth my familiar!" the door of the factory then opened to reveal a red creature with horns and red bulging muscle. A demon from the netherrealm.

"By the Founder he even summoned a familiar, just who is this guy?" Kirche exclaimed.

"Not good, not good," Louise said knowing that the Belfast military were not prepared to fight against magic at all. The only way that they would be able to defeat this enemy was to use magic as well, but that would reveal their true nature to pretty much anyone and Louise could not risk her friends being roped into this as well. "Kirche, Guiche, Tabitha, don't interfere in this...I'll handle it."

"You're joking right? You can't use magic Louise, how are you going to handle it?" Kirche asked, her eyes widening when she saw the smirk on Louise's face, "No...you can't be serious."

"Looks like those explosions are going to be useful after all...I can't let you three get roped into this, no doubt the military's going to take me away once this gets out...at least you three will be safe," Louise said.

"No way! There's no way we're going to let you take the fall!" Suzie said clinging to Louise, her eyes beginning to tear up.

"She's right...we..._I_ can't lose you," Alexander his voice full of sadness and anxiety.

"I know...thank you, both of you, however if I don't do anything then the demon is going to slaughter everyone. At least I'll save everyone by doing this," Louise said hugging both of them before kissing Alexander, "I love you both..."

"Louise...please don't..." Alexander pleaded.

"Go, go and hide. I'll take care of this," Louise said as the Belfast military began to retreat from the sight of the demon, the brave few that tried to fight it ended up killed from the demon's claw as Louise stood before it.

"Louise!" Suzie said, Alice pulling her away, "Sis!"

"Alright then...let's see if you can stand this!" Louise said taking out her wand and pointing it to the demon as a small blast erupted from the demon, it growled a bit and looked down at its smoking chest, "Huh...guess that didn't work," Louise said. She then began to run away from the demon as it began chasing her around, she knew how sharp those claws were and if it managed to get her she was finished. She ducked behind some barrels and fired on the demon before ducking as the claws tore through the barrels effectively destroying her cover. "Ah damn it how am I supposed to fight you?" she asked rhetorically firing her rifle at it, but the bullet seemed to have little effect on the demon.

"No weapon can harm my familiar, it is the ultimate fighting machine," the robed man said.

"Then I'll just take you out," Louise said turning her weapon towards the man and pulling the trigger, the bullet flew towards the man as he lazily waved in front of him as a flame shield appeared protecting him. "Tch...I hate flame mages," Louise muttered to herself before rolling sideways from the demon.

"You're quite the persistent soldier aren't you? You've caused a great deal of trouble for the High Priestess...I shall be the one to eliminate you and become greater than my peers."

"Blah, blah, blah...your monologue is a little bit tiring," Louise hissed before she felt a sharp pain on her back as the demon swatted her into some crates. She cried out in pain and her vision dimmed as she groaned to see the demon towering above her. She stared at it with steely determination, she was not going let it end here, she would not let this...this _thing_ kill her now. She had people to protect, people to come back to, and she be damned if she wasn't going to make it out of this alive. "Take your best shot," she said.

"Stay away from my sister!" Suzie said rushing towards the demon and hitting it with a steel pipe. It growled and looked at her before attempting to swat her away, Louise reacted on instinct as she pushed her away as she felt excruciating pain on her back as she cried out in pain. "L-Louise..." Suzie whimpered.

"You okay?" Louise asked trying to stay conscious, the demon's claws must have ripped through her back and wounded her severly.

"Y-yes...but Louise what about you?" Suzie said feeling something sticky when she touched her back and saw blood on her hand, "Oh god Louise you're injured badly, it's all my fault."

"No it's okay Suzie, I'll be fine," Louise said taking a deep breath, "go...run away. I'll protect you...I'll always protect you."

"N-no I'm not going without you, if you're gone what am I to do...I promised myself that I would give my whole life to you...you're my big sister..."

"Don't worry I won't die just yet," Louise said with a slight chuckle, "trust me."

"I won't run...I'm staying by your side no matter what," Suzie insisted.

"You're a stubborn girl you know that," Louise sighed trying to get up and drown the ever annoying voice of the mage.

"I think you've rubbed off on me, can you run?" Suzie asked, her face paling when she saw the three claw marks on Louise's back.

"Yeah somewhat," Louise said aiming her rifle at the demon and firing a couple more shots.

"Normal bullets won't work," the Black Raven said coming onto the scene, "you'll need a special kind of bullet." He then loaded something into his handgun before beginning an incantations as runes appeared around him.

"Impossible...that's...that's..." the mage said in aghast.

"Magic Bullet: Blazing Phoenix!" the Black Raven said aiming his handgun at the demon before a phoenix, hot as the burning sun, came out of the handgun and shot straight towards the demon. The demon roared briefly before it was incinerated by the intensity of the flame, the mage whimpered in fear as he began to run away. "Oh no you don't," the Black Raven said, "Magic Bullet: Vine Entrapment," as a vine wrapped itself around the mage.

Louise looked at the Black Raven with complete awe and surprise, how can this person know magic and actually use it? Was he a mage? Was there something that she didn't know about this world? Her knees became a little weak due to the blood loss, though she stood in between Suzie and him. "Don't worry I'm not going to hurt you...I'm an ally," the Black Raven said turning to them, "it's nice to meet you...mage of Helkeginia."


	26. Chapter 25: Gun Magic

**Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero characters, just my OCs**

* * *

"You're lucky that you didn't get torn to shreds...those claws looked vicious," the medic said while treating Louise's wounds, it stung a lot and Louise nearly passed out from the pain when the medic applied disinfectant. However she remained conscious and was able to live through the entire experience, "it's done but...it's going to leave a scar..."

"That's fine," Louise whispered, it didn't matter what happened, a scar was a scar. It might blemish her otherwise scar free body but she chalked it up to just another consequence of fighting. "How bad's the scar though?"

"Three claw marks on your back...from your right shoulder all the way down diagonally," the medic said, "I don't think it'll be a problem."

"Thanks, can I go now?" Louise asked before leaving the tent, a worried Suzie waiting for her, "I thought you would be here."

"It's my fault you got injured...how bad is it?" Suzie said hugging Louise.

"It's okay, not that bad, just a big scar on my back," Louise said patting Suzie's head, "how about you? Are you alright?"

"Thanks to you."

"I'm glad to hear that, I would've been upset if you got hurt."

"I'm sorry...I should have listened to you and go with Alexander..."

"It's okay...that's what sisters do: protect each other."

"Does it hurt?" Suzie asked her fingers trailing the wound on Louise's back a hiss coming out from her mouth, "Sorry..."

"Come on let's talk to this Black Raven...I want to know how the hell he knows about magic," Louise said walking over to where the Black Raven was, a quiet area where no one would disturb them.

"Louise!" Alexander yelled coming to her side, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine don't worry about it," Louise said.

"I'm glad to see that you're already up," the Black Raven said with a hint of mirth in his voice, "I thought you be out for the count for a couple of days considering that you used magic just then."

"Who are you? How do you-" Louise began.

"Not now...I've invited a few more of your friends, I'll explain everything when they're here," he said. Kirche, Tabitha and Guiche arrived soon enough as the Black Raven sat down, "Good now that we're all here I suppose I should explain a few things shouldn't I?"

"You damn well should," Kirche said, "what kind of magic did you use? How come there was a mage down there? I thought this place doesn't know about magic."

"The more correct technicality is that they _know_ about magic, but they just had forgotten how to use it," the Black Raven replied. "You see long ago magic was used extensively in the past, however as time went on they began to forgot about it due to technological advances and eventually...the age of magic died out and everything about it was forgotten."

"So now there are people who do use magic again...someone is reviving magic...someone is teaching people how to use magic," Guiche said.

"That would be one conclusion," the Black Raven answered.

"Then why does their magic look similar to ours?" Kirche asked.

"I never said that the one who taught them was from this world," the Black Raven said.

"What? You're saying that this person isn't from this world?" Louise exclaimed.

"That seems to be the case...I've seen a lot of these mages up close and they were all similar in pattern and method. In fact it looks a lot similar to your methods," the Black Raven insinuated.

"You're saying...that whoever this guy is...he's from our world?" Kirche said. The Black Raven said nothing, so they had to take that as a 'yes', it changed everything. It meant that someone out there was using their magic to help the enemy, someone was teaching people how to use their magic and incantations, it also meant that they were facing someone from their world and if so...how did he get here in the first place?

"I should also note that the mages always referred to a 'High Priestess' as the person who taught them...I assume this means that it's a female who's been teaching them and most likely the one that's been pushing the Confederacy to attack all the nations and bring about this war," the Black Raven added.

"Doesn't change the fact that there is someone from Helkeginia that's out there trying to get us killed, does that mean that there is a way back home?" Guiche asked.

"That I do not know, however I'm telling you all of this so that you are prepared, you may have done a wonderful job of hiding your true nature. But sooner or later everyone will find out about it and then you have to make a choice: step up and defend Belfast with your magic risking alienation and possible capture by the military, or you don't step up and continue to hide your magic. Whatever you choose will decide what happens in the end...whether Belfast will survive this war or fall to ruin. The enemy will also be using magic from now on, I don't know why they want to capture Belfast so badly but I'll endeavour to find out so be careful..." the Black Raven warned.

"Great like we didn't have enough on our plates as it is," Guiche grumbled.

"Though it still doesn't explain why you're able to use magic," Louise said, "and that wasn't magic that we know about too."

"That...is a secret," the Black Raven said as Louise growled, "sorry about that but I have my reasons for not telling you why I can use this particular brand of magic, I can however give you the means of using the same kind of magic."

"You're kidding," Guiche said.

"Nope, things are going to get tougher from now on, I suspect that the final battle between Belfast and the Confederacy is going to come soon. When that time comes you'll need to be ready for it and so..." he then took out four books and gave it to the Helkeginia mages, "The books tells you the basics of gun magic and how to use it, how you learn and use that magic is up to you individually."

"T-thanks," Louise said though how she was going to use gun magic she had no idea, she wasn't like any of the other mages she couldn't even use magic properly. So could he expect her to even succeed in the simplest of gun magic? However she couldn't let this get to her, she had to try, one thing she learned during her time at the war was that if you don't try then you won't get anywhere. Even if she failed it wouldn't matter because she tried her best.

"Your welcome, now I think it's time for all of us to part ways...it's been a pleasure to work with you all," the Black Raven said as Mason called everyone over to get ready to move out.

"Well thanks, whoever you are," Kirche said, "I hope we meet again soon."

"Perhaps we will," the mercenary replied mysteriously before the others departed, "Corporal Valliere...may I talk to you for a moment?"

"Huh? Uhm...sure," Louise said turning to Alexander and Suzie, "I'll catch up to you guys later."

"I just wanted to ask...do you think that you would be able to use this kind of magic?"

"Well...uhm...probably," Louise said unsure of herself.

"It's alright you'll get it eventually, you don't need to be able to use good magic to be a master of gun magic. Just keep working on it and you'll get it eventually," the Black Raven said.

"Uhm...alright...but why are you telling me this?" Louise asked.

"Well...let's just say I have a feeling that you're going to be a special case, you got something that no one else has...and that's all I'm going to say about it," as the mercenary stood up and began walking away. Louise opened her mouth to talk to him more, but got the feeling that he wouldn't be talking much anymore before returning back to everyone else the words he said echoing in her mind.

Gun magic, as the mages found out, was a difficult thing to accomplish due to the fact that it was nothing like the magic that they were used to. For one thing the method of casting the spell included not only the incantation, but also the correct gun movement such as flame magic involved the gun moving left, right, up, right, down and then left before you cast the magic bullet and are able to fire it. It's similar to wand movements, but a lot more complex and complicated, causing unending explosions due to wrong movements or incantations.

But the group enjoyed experimenting since each successful casting of magic bullets earned them a good show, it seemed that gun magic was stronger than their usual magic plus it was much more practical too. However what really surprised them was that anyone can use gun magic provided that they have magic within them; that meant that even Louise was able to use gun magic properly, which made her really happy since it meant that she was finally able to use one style of magic. "Man this gun magic thing is really complex, I wonder how that mercenary guy does it," Guiche said slumping against the wall after another day of practice.

"You said it," Kirche said Tabitha agreeing by nodding.

"Ha...ha...we can't give up though, we haven't even reached the third tier level spells yet," Louise said, sweat dripping from her forehead, "not yet."

"Why are you so fired up about this?" Kirche asked.

"Because...this magic...it'll protect everyone," Louise said, "for the first time I finally have magic that I can use to protect the ones I love. That's why I'm not giving up, not until I learned some useful spells I can use!"

"Alright, alright we get it calm down," Kirche said, "geez you're really into this aren't you?"

"You have no idea," Louise said to herself before she tried again. She then took a deep breath and concentrated, she did what the book said which was to imagine what the outcome of the shot would be. She channeled her magical powers into the gun and began to chant the incantation feeling the flow of magic surround her, it was just as the book described. But then partway the flow of magic changed and became erratic, concentrating harder she continued to chant and her arms moved the necessary movements trying to keep the magic under control calming herself down, if they panicked then the whole spell would lose control and it could blow up in their faces. Her heart beat slowed down and it seemed everything slowed down as well, then she finally finished the incantation and the bullet impacted on the dummy incinerating it. A smile came on Louise's face as the others looked at her with a mixture of awe and amusement, "Not bad for a zero huh?" Louise said jokingly.

Night soon came and Louise was looking up at the sky from her usual place at the bench, tonight the stars looked beautiful and she closed her eyes to calm herself down and to enjoy the night.

"Aren't you cold?" Alexander's voice said as she turned to him.

"No not really...it's quite warm," Louise said with a smile before shuffling to make room for Alexander, "what are you doing up?"

"Well how can I let you go off alone?" Alexander asked.

"We're in the capital Alexander, nothing is going to happen to me."

"Did you forget what happened at the party? When the president's daughter was captured?"

"Oh yeah...good point, but I'm just a Corporal not an officer I wouldn't know anything about military strategies or tactics."

"But you are the Heroine of Barton, along with other unofficial titles, they might see you as a threat and take you out."

"Ah that is true...well good thing I have someone to protect me right?"

"Still...what are you doing here? I thought you would be asleep? You look exhausted recently."

"Sorry I just couldn't sleep...I'm excited about gun magic, for the first time I'm now able to use a much greater magic than I was ever able to do."

"So I can tell though...you shouldn't push yourself too hard..."

"I know, but I can't help it. The thought of me being powerless against something that is hurting you, Suzie or anyone else pains me. I never ever again want to feel powerless, that I was unable to protect anyone that I cared about. That's why I'm training hard on this, so that I can protect everyone and end this war quickly...the Black Raven...he said something about a final battle...I don't know how he knew about that, but I'm hoping that it's nothing too serious."

"I heard about that...apparently the Confederacy is going to have a showdown between us and them, it's a rumour though and nothing too serious."

"I hope so...I don't want to lose anyone," Louise said hiding her face onto Alexander's jacket, she felt him wrapping his arm around her as she looked up to him.

"No one is going to die Louise I promise you that," Alexander said quietly.

"I know, I'm just checking," Louise said kissing Alexander lightly.

"We'll survive, all of us will, and then we can plan our next steps in this world," Alexander whispered.

"I look forward to that then...maybe I will stay in this world after all, I have you, Suzie and everyone else plus I think I might be able to pull off a career in the military," Louise said trying to sound cheerful.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Alexander said, "you get injured way too much when you're in the military. Maybe you can be something like a librarian or something? I heard that you've spent a lot of times reading books...the librarian here was always saying that she needed someone to replace her."

"Ha! That's a good one, not a bad idea, but is the pay good? Wouldn't be too good if I can't support myself," Louise said laughing.

"I think you can...I heard the pay's pretty good," making Louise laugh even more before she looked down, "Alexander...do you...still love me? Even with this ugly scar behind my back?"

"How could you ask that? Of course I do...no matter what happens to you, no matter how much your appearance change, you're still my angel," Alexander said his fingers brushing the back of her neck, a small shiver came down her spine and her stomach burst out butterflies.

"But...this scar...I-" Louise said.

"Don't overthink it...you're still beautiful Louise even with your missing eye and scar, in fact it makes you a lot cooler."

"You always seem to know the right words, how do you do that?"

"I've got practice complimenting my sister when I was younger."

"Really? Why do I find that so hard to believe?"

"Believe it," he then leaned forward and kissed her, "I love you."

"I love you more," Louise whispered back.

"I love you most," Alexander answered.

"We should get going, don't want Suzie to get jealous do we?" Louise said getting up, a visible blush on her face.

"No we do not," Alexander said with a smile before chuckling to himself walking alongside Louise underneath the moonlight. They walked in silence for a while before Alexander's hand snaked into Louise's, a small smile on her face, as they walked towards the base while holding hands.

Sure enough a few weeks later the rumours were confirmed, the Belfast military were going to have a showdown with the Confederacy army. It seems that the Confederacy army was putting everything that they got into this showdown, they wanted to take out Belfast as quickly as possible and their initial plans were taking too long, this was huge news because if they managed to cripple the Confederacy army then perhaps it would mean the end of the war! However Louise couldn't help but feel uneasy, she didn't know why she felt this uneasy shouldn't she be glad that the end of the road was in sight? Was there something that was making her this uneasy?

She kept that uneasiness to herself, she didn't want to panic anyone or to worry them they had enough on their plate at the moment than to worry about Louise. She hadn't even told Alexander or Suzie about it not wanting to worry them, she just hoped that her uneasiness would prove to be nothing. The events leading up to the showdown was a blur to Louise, it mostly consisted of churning out as much weapons, ammo, tanks and armour that they could muster; the more that they had of it then the better their chances of winning at least that was the theory.

"Gotta keep in shape," Claudia said when Louise came across her doing push ups, "if you don't you're not gonna be able to survive."

"Big words from a teacher," Louise said with a smirk.

"But I got experience, and knowledge, to back me up," Claudia retorted.

"I'm training hard enough as it is."

"You can never train hard enough, you can always improve yourself."

"I know, you've been hammering that into me since the day we met."

"Can't hurt to remind you of it."

"Are you worried? Nervous?"

"I suppose so, this is a big fight after all."

"Scared?"

"You sure you're not describing yourself?"

"Oh ha ha...no seriously you okay?"

"I'm fine Louise, seriously this isn't my first rodeo."

"Don't worry, I won't let anyone die, I'll protect all of you."

"Just make sure you come back in one piece after you're done protecting us...I would really hate it if you didn't come back...as would others."

"Don't worry, I'm Louise Valliere. I can't die yet."


End file.
